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

Chapter 622: Passed the Imperial Examination

The next day, the village chief led a group of people to escort Tian Fugui to the county government.

Tian Fugui was sentenced to exile.

The villagers said he and Xu Si went to keep each other company.

If you can't make it through, then you'll be my companion on the road to the underworld.

Seeing her grandson disappear and her son exiled, Tian Fugui's mother, Granny Luo, couldn't bear it any longer and fell ill.

In the past, she would have definitely demanded an explanation from Tong Huaqiong, but after suffering a series of defeats at Tong Huaqiong's hands, she had given up the will to fight.

He chased after his daughter-in-law, Cao, to find Tong Huaqiong to plead on behalf of Magistrate Liu.

Chunni stopped Cao Shi.

Chunni was very satisfied with everything that had happened at home. These days, Tian Fugui was again plotting to sell her to an old widower in town as his second wife for two hundred taels of silver. Before she could even make a move, Tian Fugui was sentenced to exile for arson.

Granny Luo is bedridden and like a toothless tiger; from now on, she'll have to live at Chunni's mercy.

Heaven was on her side, but Cao always betrayed her.

They attempted to morally blackmail Tong Huaqiong.

Feeling exposed by Chunni's cold gaze, Cao stammered, "He is, after all, your father."

Chunni sneered and said, "So the master's weaving workshop deserved to be burned down?"

"When he wanted me to be a child bride to pave the way for Chunwang, why didn't he think of my father? When he wanted to give me to an old widower as a concubine, why didn't he think of my father? When he beat me, scolded me, and threatened to drown me, why didn't he think of my father?"

Chunni's patience was exhausted by Cao's weakness.

These days, she was often distracted while mixing pig feed because of Chunwang. If she continued like this, she would exhaust the kindness that the employer had shown to her and her daughter. Chunni made up her mind and said, "You don't need to go to the pig farm anymore. I have already asked Aunt Pandi to help you quit your job at the pig farm. From now on, you can stay at home, do laundry and cook, and cry for your son while you're at it."

Tong Huaqiong learned from Tong Pandi that Cao had resigned from her job at the pig farm several days later.

But she didn't care.

After all, Cao was sent to work at the pig farm to give her and Chunni a way to make a living. Now her husband and son have both been killed, leaving only a mother-in-law who poses no threat.

Moreover, the pig farm is not short of manpower now, so Cao's departure will not have any impact on the pig farm.

However, when Chunni told Tong Huaqiong, "Now I'm in charge of the Luo family," it still touched Tong Huaqiong.

Her casual act of helping Chunni grow into a resilient head of the family.

After dealing with Tian Fugui, the next step is to deal with Xu Xinghua.

Tong Huaqiong delivered a message to Aunt Tang overnight.

The day after the arson, someone from the Lian family suddenly came to discuss with the Xu family about bringing forward the marriage between Xu Xinghua and the Lian family's son.

It was called a discussion, but it was really just a notification regarding our assets.

Of course, this is good news for the Xu family. They are eager for Xu Xinghua to come to the Lian family as soon as possible so as to solidify their in-law relationship.

Three days after the arson attempt failed, Xu Xinghua rushed to get married, and the Xu family didn't even prepare a dowry.

The Lian family stated that they are a large and wealthy family and do not need a dowry from the woman.

When the Xu family members who had accompanied the bride returned, they said that the matchmaker had made a mistake and that Xu Xinghua's husband was not the third son of the Lian family, but the second son of the Lian family.

The Second Young Master Lian was once engaged to Huang Jingshan, the daughter of Master Huang. People in Yanguan Town are familiar with the Second Young Master Lian's deeds, and many people in Qinghewan have also heard of him.

Some people whispered to the Xu family that the second young master had lost his mind after being deprived of his lineage. This was meant well, but Xu Yong vehemently denied it, saying the other party had ulterior motives and was jealous of Xu Xinghua's marriage to Pingchuan and her becoming a young mistress. Xu Xinghua did not return to her parents' home for three days, only returning to Qinghewan with her husband to visit her family before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

That's why the Lian family has such strict rules. A whole host of servants followed, and before the villagers could even get a good look at the Second Young Master Lian, they all rushed into the Xu family's house.

It is said that Xu Xinghua caused a ruckus after arriving at her parents' home, but was eventually restrained by the nanny who accompanied her.

The Xu family accepted the change of Xu Xinghua from the third young mistress to the second young mistress of the Lian family without asking for any explanation, as if they had expected it all along.

As long as Xu Xinghua can become the young mistress of the Lian family, it doesn't matter whether she marries the second or third young master of the Lian family.

Xu Yong was quite open-minded about this. If the second young master hadn't lost his mind and had no children, Xu Xinghua wouldn't have had a chance to marry him.

Anyway, the Lian family promised that they would adopt a son from either the first or third branch of the family for Xu Xinghua to raise. Xu Xinghua's position was secure, and as long as she didn't cause trouble, it would be even more secure than Xu Zaohua's position as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family.

After Xu Xinghua married into the Lian family, Xu Yong became trembling.

In the village, people would say all day long that their daughter was the second sister-in-law of Prefect Yao.

Since Tong Huaqiong's cotton cloth became popular, this year Prefect Yao promoted cotton planting throughout Ningcheng. When he and his wife came to the village to inspect the cotton fields, Xu Yong rushed up to claim kinship, but was stopped by his entourage.

Prefect Yao and Lian Hengruo didn't even glance at the Xu family.

The villagers discovered that Prefect Yao had no intention of acknowledging the marriage, and that Liu Tielian was firmly in his position as village chief. As a result, their worries about Xu Yong's resurgence vanished completely, and those who had wanted to curry favor with the Xu family gave up their attempts.

Aunt Tang has visited Qinghe Bay several times.

From Aunt Tang, Tong Huaqiong learned that Xu Xinghua had been anything but peaceful since marrying into the Lian family, constantly finding fault with the second young master of the Lian family. Once, she secretly beat the second young master of the Lian family, but was discovered by her mother-in-law, Madam Hua, and was punished by being forced to kneel in the ancestral hall. Xu Xinghua was naturally unwilling to accept this, and not only injured the nanny next to Madam Hua, but also verbally abused Madam Hua.

Madam Hua was so angry that she regretted marrying Xu Xinghua. Xu Xinghua said that her son, who had no family, was already lucky to have married her, so she spent her days beating chickens and scolding dogs, and occasionally hitting the second young master to vent her anger. Madam Hua was caught up in her daughter-in-law's commotion and could no longer deal with Aunt Tang.

Upon hearing this, Tong Huaqiong couldn't tell whether it was Hua's good fortune or Xu Xinghua's good fortune.

Autumn arrived in the blink of an eye.

After half a year of development, the cotton cloth produced by the weaving workshop has opened up the entire market in Ningcheng.

Because of Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop's demand for cotton, the entire Qinghewan area has expanded its cotton planting scale.

Looking up, the cotton bolls are as dazzling as white clouds.

Tong Huaqiong could see silver coins hidden among the fluffy white cotton.

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, villagers begin picking cotton in the cotton fields.

The bumper cotton harvest made the villagers of Qinghewan feel that their year's work had not been in vain. Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop had bought all the cotton in Qinghewan, and it could be said that the villagers had followed the weaving workshop onto a broad road to prosperity.

The bumper cotton harvest not only provided an additional source of income for the villagers of Qinghewan, but also significantly reduced the costs for Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop.

It's a win-win situation!

That autumn, another piece of good news that shocked the entire Yanguan Town happened to Tong Huaqiong's family.

Gu Jingzhe passed the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination), and even achieved the top

This is way more impressive than the main entrance.

For nearly sixty years, no one from Yanguan Town had passed the imperial examinations; Gu Jingzhe was the first.

When the good news arrived, Qinghe Bay was packed with onlookers, all eager to witness history while enjoying the spectacle.

For the people of Yanguan Town, the only person who has achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations in the past two years is Lu Zhaoyang, the son-in-law of Huang Yuanwai, and that's only because Huang Yuanwai has been promoting him every day.

Gu Jingzhe is different; he is a native of Qinghewan, which belongs to Yanguan Town. Therefore, rounding up, Gu Jingzhe's title of Jieyuan (top scholar in the provincial examination) is the glory of the entire Yanguan Town.