Chapter 498: Chapter 498: The Hidden Manipulator

"Tomorrow morning, come find me at the Zheng Family. Remember, enter through the side gate."

After Xu Zaohua gave instructions to Gu Ruinian, she climbed into the carriage with the child in her arms.

Gu Ruinian happily guaranteed he would arrive early.

As the carriage began to move, Xu Zaohua’s eyes revealed a fierce determination.

Xu Zaohua was strongly encouraging Gu Ruinian to scheme against Lian Hengruo, not out of a bored outsider’s whim, but because her own interests were involved.

Xu Zaohua was completely informed about the Lian Family’s situation.

Her father-in-law intended to form a marriage alliance with the Lian Family by having the second son of the Zheng Family marry the second lady of the Lian Family.

Although the second lady of the Lian Family was not very enthusiastic, Xu Zaohua heard that the Lady of the Lian Family was determined to make the marriage match happen.

With the parents’ command and the matchmaker’s words, if the master and the mistress of the Lian Family agreed, the second lady would have no room to object.

As the Eldest Young Madam of the Zheng Family, if Young Master Zheng were still alive, she wouldn’t concern herself with whom her brother-in-law married, since most of the family assets would belong to their household. But the problem was, Young Master Zheng was dead, and the Zheng Family had a younger son. Even if she had a son, the Zheng Family’s assets wouldn’t be hers unless she managed to defeat the younger son or the younger son proved utterly useless.

She couldn’t defeat the Zheng family’s youngest son, and if she did, her father-in-law might adopt someone from the clan, which would be even harder to deal with.

Thankfully, the second son of the Zheng Family was just a bookish sort; as long as Xu Zaohua could establish herself, most of the assets would be hers and her son’s.

In recent times, she had been solely focused on getting involved in the Zheng Family’s external business, and her father-in-law had started to trust her a little, but now he wanted her brother-in-law to marry Lian Hengruo.

If Lian Hengruo married into the Zheng Family, with her abilities, she’d devour Xu Zaohua without a trace.

There was no way Xu Zaohua could allow such a situation to happen.

The best solution was to prevent Lian Hengruo from marrying into the Zheng Family.

She had been pondering how to deal with Lian Hengruo, utterly exhausted, when Gu Ruinian showed up.

She could use Gu Ruinian to deal with the second lady of the Lian Family.

She had seen many young men like Gu Ruinian, eager to chase after a wealthy lady’s attention, and a slight bait would have him hooked.

If Gu Ruinian could win over Lian Hengruo, that would be great; if not, and Lian Hengruo’s reputation was ruined, no one would know it had anything to do with Xu Zaohua.

She intended to remain the unnoticed player behind the scenes.

While Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian were involved in a plot reminiscent of an old acquaintance meeting in a foreign land, Tong Huaqiong was laughing heartily in her room.

A storyteller from the teahouse came to find Tong Huaqiong, hoping she could write some popular stories, but Tong Huaqiong was too busy to spin tales, so in their chat, the storyteller recounted to her the romantic tales written by Gu Ruinian.

"Manager Tong, in our line of work, you need a photographic memory. Everything I’m telling you was written by Gu Ruinian verbatim. A toad lusting after a swan’s meat, ha! If I were to publish his story, the second lady of the Lian Family could smash my teahouse to pieces, and I’d never survive in Pingchuan County again."

The storyteller spat vehemently.

Gu Ruinian was trying to harm him.

The protagonist of that story was obviously the second lady of the Lian Family.

The second lady of the Lian Family was no ordinary person; she could push her three legitimate brothers to their wits’ end, let alone an irrelevant outsider.

Previously, when Tong Huaqiong wrote stories about Tong Pandi and the Wu Family, he dared to take them on, first because Tong Huaqiong paid him silver, and second because Wu Ren was just the village head of Black Dragon Pond, holding no real power in Pingchuan, while Tong Huaqiong’s mother was friends with County Magistrate Liu’s mother, so Wu Ren was no match for her, and he dared to take Tong Huaqiong’s stories.

Gu Ruinian didn’t understand the intricacies; he didn’t even offer silver, yet he expected the storyteller to help him court the second lady of the Lian Family—how could he agree?

"Manager Tong, don’t you find it hilarious too? Gu Ruinian is from a rural place like Qinghe Bay, thinking a piece of cloth would win over a noble young lady; did he learn that from some village play during the new year? I’m telling you, those amateur theater troupes are unreliable, making up stories for show. Naive, unsuspecting youngsters are easily duped."

The storyteller rambled on until he suddenly remembered that Tong Huaqiong was also from rural Qinghe Bay and immediately shut up.

Tong Huaqiong laughed so hard her stomach ached, waving her hand dismissing the storyteller, not minding at all.

Tong Huaqiong thought Gu Ruinian’s moves were mimicking hers, but he had learned the wrong lessons. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The fact is, his stories were too cliché.

His writing was terrible, the plot unattractive, merely a common fantasy of a lowly dreamer.

Hahaha, it was just too funny.

The storyteller drank a cup of tea and then took his leave.

"Mother, just now I saw Gu Ruinian standing in front of a carriage, probably talking to Xu Zaohua; I recognized Xu Zaohua’s carriage."

After the storyteller left, Gu Taohua entered from outside, informing Tong Huaqiong of Gu Ruinian’s activities.

Since Xu Zaohua’s unsuccessful attempt to frame Tong Huaqiong with fake pesticides, she hadn’t returned to Qinghe Bay. Tong Huaqiong had heard from villagers that Xu Zaohua had a son, anchoring her place in the Zheng Family.

Although the former manager, He Chao, of the Zheng Family suspected Xu Zaohua of surrogate childbirth, with no concrete evidence, the child had to be accepted as Young Master Zheng’s offspring.

The relationship between Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian was unclear to Tong Huaqiong, so she asked Gu Taohua: "How was Rui Nian’s relationship with Xu Zaohua back when he was in Qinghe Bay?"

Xu Zaohua said: "They got along quite well, even ganging up on me once."

That implied they were childhood sweethearts.

Given their close bond from an early age, Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian being tied together couldn’t mean anything good.

Plus, the two shared Tong Huaqiong as a common enemy, so Tong Huaqiong couldn’t afford to be careless.

Thus, she called Su Chengmin and Nie Xiaofeng, asking them to continue monitoring Gu Ruinian, and by extension, Xu Zaohua too.

"Let Xiaofeng handle it; he’s made great progress lately. I need to return to Qinghe Bay for a few days; I can’t stop worrying with Xiao Long at home."

Su Chengmin, after requesting permission from Tong Huaqiong to return to Qinghe Bay, instructed Nie Xiaofeng: "You need to watch if the Eldest Young Madam of the Zheng Family meets with Gu Ruinian these days, where they meet, and who else is around. Remember everything accurately and report back to Aunt Tong."

Nie Xiaofeng asked, "Why should I pay attention to the people nearby?"

Su Chengmin knocked on Nie Xiaofeng’s head, saying, "You’re stubborn even when told you’re slow; just do as I instructed."

Tong Huaqiong said, "The Zheng and Lian Families are both local powerhouses in Pingchuan County, their ties interwoven. Gu Ruinian’s ambition toward the second lady of the Lian Family is evident. Xu Zaohua, being the Eldest Young Madam of the Zheng Family, would naturally know members of the Lian Family. Wasn’t it just too timely for her to appear right after Gu Ruinian intercepted the second lady? The second lady being at odds with her three brothers at home, who knows if Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian might exploit this against her. We are relying on the second lady for our pearl stall’s success, so you should stay vigilant."

Su Chengmin nodded, knowing that was the very intention.

Tong Huaqiong further instructed Su Chengmin: "Not only keep an eye on Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian, but also investigate the relations between the Zheng and Lian Families, especially with the three brothers of the Lian Family."

Nie Xiaofeng didn’t dare ask why he needed to investigate this time, knowing that his grandma’s advice never went astray. If she said to investigate, that’s what he’d do.

With that, Tong Huaqiong continued managing the accounts, not noticing Gu Taohua’s unhappy expression.