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

Chapter 677 Unable to Prove Itself
Uncle Li got up from the ground, stumbled into the house, unlocked the door, and took out the jewelry.

It hurts so much, it hurts like hell.

Li Mingxiu took the hairpin and carefully rubbed the flower on it with her hands, feeling an urge to cry.

This was the last thing her mother left her.

When she was six years old, her second uncle and aunt discovered her and forcibly took her away.

From the moment Li Mingxiu asked her second uncle for jewelry, her aunt kept a close eye on him.

She had been eyeing this set of jewelry for a long time, always thinking that Li Mingxiu had hidden it away, but she never expected that the second son's family had tricked her into giving it away.

The second couple were also a pair of idiots; they didn't know to pawn or sell their jewelry and hide it in the house like a landmine.

Serves them right. What the first wife can't have, the second wife can forget about.

After Li Mingxiu established a female household and received what she was entitled to, she did not linger in Lijiazhuang for long.

Before leaving, she asked her grandmother, "Would you like to live with me?"

After thinking for a long time, Grandmother shook her head and said, "The Li family is my family."

Li Mingxiu understood; her grandmother couldn't bear to part with her children and grandchildren.

Looking at her grandmother's evasive eyes, Li Mingxiu couldn't help but think that her grandmother had always known what her eldest and second uncles had done to her. When they mistreated her, her grandmother always protected and loved her. When they wanted to sell her to an old widower, her grandmother stood up to stop them.

However, her house and land were occupied, and the jewelry left to her by her mother was stolen, but her grandmother did not stand up for her and seek justice.

Perhaps in Grandma's heart, we were all family and there was no need to be so calculating.

Perhaps in her grandmother's mind, she was a girl who would eventually belong to another family, and the things left by her parents belonged to the Li family and had nothing to do with her.

Her grandmother loved her, but when it came to core interests, she chose her descendants.

This was something her employer pointed out when her grandmother hesitated about whether to establish a female household. Thinking of this, Li Mingxiu felt a little sad.

However, she quickly recovered from her distress and kowtowed three times to her grandmother, thus fulfilling the bond between grandmother and granddaughter.

From then on, her Li family and the Li family of Lijiazhuang were no longer the same Li family.

After kowtowing, Li Mingxiu left Li Family Village with Gu Taohua and Su Qing without looking back.

Uncle Li's second uncle only realized what had happened when the three figures were completely out of sight. His wife had given Su Qing fifty taels of silver to buy her a lucrative job as an embroiderer.

Given Su Qing's behavior towards Li Mingxiu today, I'm afraid this matter is going to fall through.

Uncle Li was so disappointed that his teeth ached. At this point, he still didn't realize it was a trap. He thought that if he lost the lucrative position, the money would naturally be returned.

Although they couldn't enter the embroidery workshop, the money was still theirs.

The closer Li Mingxiu got to Qinghe Bay, the happier she felt. From then on, the world was vast and open, and she had no further connection with the Li family.

Aunt Li had been waiting at the entrance of Qinghewan Village, unaware that the Li family had been turned upside down.

The three arrived at the village entrance, and Aunt Li spotted Su Qing at a glance.

She stepped forward and grabbed Su Qing, saying, "Miss Su, is there a mistake on the list of embroiderers? Why isn't my name, Niu Sanmei, on it?"

Su Qing brushed away Li's second aunt's hand and said, "Who is Niu Sanmei? How dare she question the recruitment list of the weaving workshop?"

Aunt Li said with a forced smile, "It's me, Niu Sanmei."

Su Qing looked at Li's second aunt and suddenly laughed, saying, "What are you talking about? You didn't participate in the embroidery recruitment exam, so naturally your name isn't on it."

"No, Miss Su, didn't we agree on this?"

Aunt Li panicked and stopped Su Qing.

She wondered if Gu Taohua was nearby. To avoid suspicion, Su Qing forced a smile and said, "Miss Su Qing, let's talk in private." Su Qing said coldly, "What do you want to say? Isn't it about you asking Mingxiu to put in a good word for me to get into the weaving workshop as an embroiderer? Don't you think that we only get in through real skills, not through connections?"

"Besides, what connection do you have with Mingxiu?"

Aunt Li was stunned.

She didn't expect Su Qing to change her attitude so quickly. With the young master Gu Taohua right in front of her, how dare she say such things? Wasn't she afraid that her affair with accepting money would be exposed?

Since Su Qing is so heartless, don't blame her for retaliating.

Aunt Li said fiercely, "You took fifty taels of silver from me, so give me back the fifty taels of silver you took from me."

Su Qing frowned: "What fifty taels of silver?"

Aunt Li was so angry that her head was spinning and her hands and feet were trembling. This guy wanted to steal her money.

“Peach Blossom, Su Qing cheated me out of my job as an embroiderer for fifty taels of silver. You should investigate her thoroughly; she has been skimming off a lot of money from other lucrative positions in the weaving workshop.”

"Su Qing must return my money, otherwise I will spread the word everywhere that the weaving workshop only accepts money to work."

Aunt Li looked at Gu Taohua with a threatening expression.

Gu Taohua showed no anger whatsoever, and asked Li's second aunt with a smile, "You said Su Qing took fifty taels of silver from you, who can testify?"

Aunt Li hesitated. If it was a bribe, it must have been done in private. How could they let others see it?

“My son and I came to give her the money two days ago,” said Aunt Li.

Gu Taohua said, "What kind of witness is your son? He'll definitely side with you. Your claim that you have to pay money to get a job at the weaving workshop is just your imagination. Why don't you ask around and see which weaver in the workshop got in based on their real skills? Paying money to get in is a huge joke. Go ahead and tell them, and see who believes you. Be careful, or I'll sue you for defamation."

Aunt Li's hands and feet were ice cold. She didn't expect that even though she had exposed Su Qing to her face, Gu Taohua still didn't believe her.

At this time, a large number of onlookers gathered at the village entrance.

Gu Taohua said loudly, "Everyone, be the judge! This auntie said that all the embroiderers hired by my weaving workshop this time got in through back channels and by bribing people. She also said that everyone who comes to my weaving workshop does it this way. Ladies and aunties, do any of you or your family members work in my weaving workshop? Tell me, is this true or not?"

The crowd instantly became excited.

To slander the weaving workshop is to slander them.

Everyone knows that getting a job in the weaving workshop requires real skill.

"Auntie, don't slander people without reason. My sister-in-law got into the weaving workshop through real skills, passing the exams three times."

"If you're not capable of passing the exam yourself, don't slander others. What good does it do you to slander others?"

"If you could get in just by paying money, why did Gu's sister-in-law, Honglian, beg and plead but still not get in?"

"Madam, could it be that you yourself are greedy and only accept money for doing things, which is why you imagine that you can only enter the weaving workshop if you make a deal?"

Everyone was talking at once.

Aunt Li couldn't explain herself clearly; she wanted to say that she had indeed given Su Qing fifty taels of silver.

But Su Qing refused to admit it, saying her son was her witness, which created a dead end where she couldn't prove her innocence.

Li Mingxiu said, "I saw that my second aunt was jealous of the money I made in the weaving workshop. Since you didn't have the ability to pass the exam to get in, you tried to use this method to slander the weaving workshop. That day at home, you begged Su Qing to let you work in the weaving workshop, but Su Qing refused you. You held a grudge and then slandered Su Qing for taking money from you."

"Fifty taels of silver? You're quite the storyteller. Would you get fifty taels if you tied your whole family up and sold?"

Aunt Li's lips trembled with anger.

That was fifty taels of silver of hers! It's obvious that Su Qing secretly pocketed it.

Su Qing stood beside Gu Taohua like a pure white flower, and Li's second aunt wished she could tear off all of Su Qing's pretense.