The evil mother-in-law does not whitewash, she only abuses her children

Gu Dashu opened two jars of good wine and filled them for everyone himself.

The aroma of wine and food filled the whole room, making people's appetites whet.

At this time, there was a noise outside, and then red lanterns flashed into the yard.

Tong Huaqiong had a vague guess in his mind and stood up.

When everyone saw Tong Huaqiong stand up, they also put down their chopsticks.

"Suifeng Township Lord receives the reward."

Tong Huaqiong guessed correctly, someone came from the palace.

Tong Huaqiong led everyone out and knelt in the snow.

The people who came were the imperial guards led by Eunuch Pan and Su Chengmin, who were beside the emperor.

It turned out that on New Year's Eve, the emperor gave food to important officials and relatives in the court according to custom. This year, Tong Huaqiong, a non-official royal relative, was also among those rewarded.

Tong Huaqiong took the food box and thanked him.

"It's cold, everyone, have a glass of wine to warm yourself up before going to the next one."

Gu Taohua saw Su Chengmin. Everyone was having a reunion dinner, but he was delivering food door to door with his guards in the cold weather. He ordered someone to bring a pot of hot wine from the house to the guards.

Su Chengmin took the wine and smiled at Gu Taohua in tacit understanding.

While Su Chengmin turned around, Gu Taohua handed him a hand warmer.

After seeing off Eunuch Pan and the Imperial Guards, Tong Huaqiong brought everyone back to the house, carrying the food box.

Gu Dashu asked, "What dish did His Majesty give as a reward?"

Zhao and others stretched their necks with a look of curiosity.

Fan Tong was shocked. It had only been a short time since the eldest sister-in-law of the Gu family came to Shengjing, but she had already entered the core circle of the royal family and was even given food by the emperor himself.

I made up my mind to hold Tong Huaqiong's thighs tightly.

He had no hope of passing the imperial examination again in the autumn, so he placed all his hopes on Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe.

The food box in the palace was very exquisite, and Tong Huaqiong opened the box.

There are four dishes and two dim sum in total.

The food in the palace is not necessarily better than the food outside. Tong Huaqiong has attended several palace banquets and concluded that the imperial kitchen focuses on making no mistakes, but is not very innovative.

"The food in the palace is not very tasty." Zhao took a look and said to her husband.

In fact, she mainly wanted to show off that she had taken advantage of Tong Huaqiong to attend a palace banquet.

Liu Yue'e's father, elder brother, Gu Honglian and Fan Tong had never attended a palace banquet before, and they could not hide their excitement.

"Even if there's nothing good to eat, it was a gift from His Majesty." Liu Yue'e's father Liu Tiechui smacked his lips.

Tong Huaqiong placed a dish of cherry meat in front of Maner. This was a gift from the emperor himself.

The remaining dishes of crab meat lion's head, braised deer tendon, pearl jade white jade soup and two dim sum were placed on the table. He called Liu Tiechui and Gu Xiaoxue and said, "Try it. After all, it came from the palace."

Liu Tiechui picked up a piece of deer tendon and said, "We can also eat the imperial gift. When I return to the village after the New Year, I will show it off to everyone."

This remark made everyone laugh.

While no one at the table was paying attention, Fan Tong quietly took away a crab meat lion head.

I had already thought about how to write a letter to my classmates in Yanguan Town to show off the taste of the imperial meal.

I originally wanted to savor it carefully, but I was almost starving after not eating for a day, so I swallowed it without even having time to savor it.

When he tried to grab the second one, Tong Pandi angrily retorted, "There are only four lion heads in total. How can others eat them if you take all of them away, uncle?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Fan Tong.

Fan Tong blushed.

I secretly swore in my heart that I must make a name for myself.

Master Su was just a country teacher, but he could become the teacher of the crown prince. Why couldn't he?

No one paid attention to Fan Tong's mental activities, and everyone soon fell into a heated conversation.

"Taohua, I heard that you are engaged? Is it the commander of the imperial guards who came to deliver food to the emperor today?" Gu Honglian ate half a plate of beef and two big steamed buns. After she came to her senses, she asked Gu Taohua about her marriage.

She heard the servants at home whispering that Gu Taohua was going to marry the commander of the Imperial Guard after the new year, and she was really curious about how Gu Taohua, an older girl, could get such a good marriage.

She didn't know how high of an official rank the commander of the Imperial Guard held, but he must be one of the emperor's most trusted people since he could represent the emperor in delivering food to the royal family.

When the food was served, she didn't dare to look up. She just glanced at him in the light and found that the commander of the guards was very young and handsome.

She didn't realize that it was Su Chengmin.

Gu Taohua said frankly, "Yes."

Gu Honglian said: "You are so lucky."

This is a real compliment.

When Gu Taohua was just an ordinary country girl, Gu Honglian always had an inexplicable hostility towards her; now that Gu Taohua is the young master of the Tong family business and has control over the money and resources, Gu Honglian dare not compete with her.

Fan Tong secretly looked towards Gu Taohua.

Gu Taohua is confident and free-spirited.

He suddenly felt that the delicious food in his mouth had no taste.

Regret welled up in my heart.

Many years ago, when Gu Taohua was still a fat girl from Qinghe Bay, she sent him food and writing materials. At that time, he disliked Gu Taohua's fatness and thought it was too embarrassing to devote himself to such a fat girl.

But he couldn't bear to give up Gu Taohua's efforts, so he kept her hanging.

I don’t know when it started, but Gu Taohua began to devote herself to business and never looked at him again.

If he had known at that time that Tong Huaqiong would become rich and move from Qinghewan to Shengjing, and that Gu Taohua would own a shop and have money, he would have married Gu Taohua home even if he was ridiculed by the crowd, and there would be no chance for the leader of the Imperial Guard to marry her.

Fan Tong frequently raised his eyes to look at Gu Taohua, which was no different from winking at a blind person, but Gu Taohua never even looked at him.

In Gu Taohua's eyes, Fan Tong is just a poor uncle who comes to extort money.

"Jingzhe, you will be taking part in the Spring Examination in a few months. How are your preparations going?"

Everyone was chatting animatedly at the dinner table. Fan Tong felt quite uncomfortable being left out, so he took the initiative to find Gu Jingzhe to strike up a conversation.

Gu Jingzhe said, "The preparations are good. Uncle, how did you do in the Autumn Examination?"

Fan Tong paused, regretting bringing up this topic.

Gu Jingzhe really brings up things that are not related to the topic.

He failed the autumn examination again.

Gu Honglian said, "Your uncle-in-law is unlucky and failed the exam again."

In Gu Honglian's mind, she believed that Fan Tonglian had passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, so the reason why he failed the imperial examination three times in a row was not because he lacked the ability, but because he was unlucky.

Fan Tong said sheepishly, "I ate stewed pig's trotters with beans before the exam and had diarrhea, which is why I didn't perform well."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Although no one present except Gu Jingzhe and Fan Tong had ever been to an examination room, everyone knew that what Fan Tong said was pure nonsense.

Gu Honglian chewed on some pork ribs and said, "Ningcheng's feng shui is unlucky for your uncle, so we came to Shengjing to try our luck. Maybe he'll pass the imperial examination next year there. Jingzhe, you must do well in the spring examination. When you become a high-ranking official, you can help your uncle."

Gu Honglian doesn't understand officialdom.

Fan Tong constantly brainwashed Gu Honglian, saying that officials needed mutual support to gain a foothold. This was similar to why Lu Zhaoyang married Lu Zhaozhao to the unofficial Gu Jingzhe: he saw Gu Jingzhe's potential and invested in him early. Once Gu Jingzhe entered officialdom, he and Lu Chaoyang would be able to provide mutual support.

Gu Jingzhe is investing in him now, so he and Gu Jingzhe will naturally become a force of strength.

Gu Jingzhe said: "My uncle-in-law is a rare talent. He is the first scholar in our Yanguan Town private school. His future is limitless. Maybe I will have to rely on my uncle-in-law."

Gu Honglian and Fan Tong were both very happy after hearing these words.

Tong Huaqiong looked at Fan Tong's red face stained by alcohol and fell into deep thought.