Gu Honglian’s tea was spilled all over the ground.
The eldest sister-in-law of the Fan Family clutched her chest and apologized to the people in the clan, saying that Gu Honglian had been pampered since childhood in the Gu Family, and it was not surprising that she got angry because Fan Tong went to get a doctor for her.
After all, it’s understandable for a new bride to have her heart and eyes wholly on her husband.
As she spoke, she also asked for Gu Honglian’s forgiveness.
Gu Honglian was infuriated listening to the eldest sister-in-law of the Fan Family twist the truth.
She couldn’t tell everyone that she and Fan Tong hadn’t even taken off their clothes, and he was called away, leaving her to spend the night fully dressed.
She valued her dignity, so she couldn’t say it out loud.
The result was that Gu Honglian tearfully served the tea in a rush.
The clan had an even worse impression of Gu Honglian.
They thought she was inconsiderate, disrespectful to her mother-in-law and eldest sister-in-law.
"The eldest sister-in-law is even more conniving than my mother-in-law, old as she is, she’s clutching her chest like a sick beauty. She called Fan Tong away, and he spent the night watching over her. Am I not justified in feeling wronged and crying?"
"I don’t even know how I’ve offended her. She’s deliberately making things difficult for me. Now the whole clan believes I disrespect my elder sister-in-law and am unfilial to my mother-in-law."
Gu Honglian could no longer hold it in and cried to Grandma Gu.
"Why does your sister-in-law bully you? Wasn’t it on your wedding day she maliciously said your dowry was small, causing Bai Shuang and the clan’s daughters-in-law to ridicule you, so she couldn’t stand it and decided to target you?"
Grandma Gu felt she had grasped the core of the issue.
She initially wanted to say something about Gu Baishuang being meddlesome, but thinking her granddaughter was merely standing up for her daughter, she refrained from scolding Gu Baishuang.
"Wretched woman. Although it’s said that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother, she shouldn’t truly see Fan Tong as her son. She’s intent on making things difficult for you, worried you’ll win your mother-in-law’s favor, which is why she’s staging this act," Grandma Gu remarked. "Just be a little yielding in front of your mother-in-law. As long as you win her favor, why would you be afraid of your elder sister-in-law?"
When Gu Honglian mentioned her mother-in-law, she cried even more sorrowfully.
Grandma Gu was mistaken; the goal of the Fan Family’s eldest sister-in-law wasn’t to compete for the mother-in-law’s favor with Gu Honglian, but rather something akin to competing for Fan Tong.
Gu Honglian initially thought the same way.
For the past three days, she tried her best to please her mother-in-law, but her mother-in-law still showed her a cold face.
Whenever she was alone with Fan Tong, her mother-in-law would scold from behind the wall, saying that marrying a wife had made Fan Tong forget his studies.
Finally, she outright scolded Gu Honglian, saying that she couldn’t be separated from her man and asking how Fan Tong would have the energy to study and achieve honor if she drained him dry, and if he failed the exams next year, it would be Gu Honglian’s fault.
"Don’t you think my mother-in-law is intentionally picking a fight? My husband has taken the scholar exam for three years without passing, yet she blames me?" Gu Honglian felt deeply wronged.
She just mentioned that Jingzhe passed on his first try, which provoked Mrs. Fan to give her an even colder look, accusing Gu Honglian of looking down on people.
The elder sister-in-law from the same village would visit the Fan Family 800 times a day.
The elder sister-in-law treated Fan Tong even better than the eldest sister-in-law, bringing delicious food every time, leading Gu Honglian to believe she was reasonable and would support her.
Instead, she would keep examining Fan Tong’s eyes, saying they looked a little heavy, and directly asked Gu Honglian what time she went to bed at night, and how many times they did it?
Making Gu Honglian blush intensely and struggle with embarrassment.
In the evening, her mother-in-law called Gu Honglian over to do needlework, which was something she was completely unskilled at, having never done it at home.
She was taught a lesson by her mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law and was sent off to look after the eldest sister-in-law of the Gu Family, saying that she was busy until her chest hurt, and since Fan Tong was a young brother-in-law, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to attend to his sister-in-law, so she should.
"Did you go?" Grandma Gu, filled with heartache, asked angrily, "The Fan Family asking a newlywed bride to take care of the eldest sister-in-law is like a small knife cutting the buttocks, utterly absurd."
No matter how poor they were at home, their daughter never suffered the hardship of serving others.
Gu Honglian said, "I didn’t go."
This further enraged Mrs. Fan and the eldest sister-in-law of the Fan Family.
Gu Honglian realized that her mother-in-law, eldest sister-in-law, and the big sister-in-law were teaming up to bully her.
She was too embarrassed to tell Grandma Gu that the eldest sister-in-law of the Fan Family was eavesdropping, and even the slightest noise would have Mrs. Fan pointing at her face the next day, accusing her of wanting to drain Fan Tong dry.
These past three days she only consummated her marriage with Fan Tong twice, one of which was interrupted.
It was like swallowing dates whole, she hadn’t tasted any pleasure and didn’t even know if Fan Tong could do it.
Three women putting on a show had made Gu Honglian’s life worse than death these past three days.
She realized that the title of being the scholar’s wife didn’t have that much prestige after all.
Moreover, the scenario of Wu Na being pushed for a dowry by the Gu Family was being played out on her.
The three of them squeezed her in unison, trying to make her hand over her dowry.
However, Gu Honglian withstood the pressure and ultimately didn’t hand over her jewelry and silver.
"Doesn’t Fan Tong stand by you?" Grandma Gu asked.
Gu Honglian said, "How can he stand by me? One is his mother, another is his elder sister-in-law, and the third is his elder sister. He just said one thing in my defense, and my mother-in-law was rolling on the ground saying he forgot his mother after marrying a wife."
She complained to Fan Tong, and he told her to endure, saying that all daughters-in-law become mothers-in-law after some time.
He said it wasn’t easy for his widowed mother to raise him, it wasn’t easy for his elder sister to look after him from a young age, and it wasn’t easy for his sister-in-law to accept his elder sister’s care.
In any case, everyone had a hard time except Gu Honglian.
The more Gu Honglian cried, the more Fan Tong said she was petty, unable to accommodate others. He said his mother, sister-in-law, and elder sister weren’t bad people but just said some heavy words because they were too concerned about him, worried he’d be lost in the tender trap. He said Gu Honglian was spoiled since childhood and that’s why she couldn’t take it, advising her not to dwell on it and to be more magnanimous.
Gu Honglian felt exhausted just talking about it.
What kind of fate was this, to encounter such a family?
She thought marrying into the family meant becoming the wife of a scholar, never expecting to fall into a den of wolves and tigers.
How could she, alone, possibly defeat three tigresses?
The idea of breaking up was out of the question, for one, because they had just gotten married, and two, she didn’t want to be laughed at.
Now the whole village knew she was the wife of a scholar, and she had applied heavy rouge on her face when returning to Qinghe Bay, just to cover the redness and swelling around her eyes.
"Although it’s said that when you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, and when you marry a dog, follow the dog, you can’t just let yourself be bullied like this. I’ll have a good talk with the son-in-law," Grandma Gu said, trembling with anger.
Mr. Gu pulled Fan Tong aside to talk, called by Grandma Gu, and after she recounted Gu Honglian’s experiences over the past three days in the Fan Family, Mr. Gu’s face darkened.
During dinner, the two elders brought up the matter, and Fan Tong apologized on the surface but believed in his heart that Gu Honglian was being spoiled and causing trouble. Since she married into the Fan Family, she was now a part of it, how could she bring family affairs back to the Gu Family? Wasn’t that slapping him in the face?
He thought that his mother, sister-in-law, and elder sister were just concerned about him, so how could Gu Honglian not understand this?
But recalling the resources of Jingzhe and Tong Huaqiong that he might need in the future, he promised Mr. Gu and Grandma Gu that he would make sure Gu Honglian wouldn’t suffer any more grievances.
With the son-in-law making such a promise, Mr. Gu and Grandma Gu had no better option, and certainly wouldn’t have their daughter divorce just after getting married.
Mr. Gu looked at the quietly eating Gu Ruinian with a heavy heart, lamenting that if Gu Ruinian had excelled in his studies, the Fan Family wouldn’t dare bully Gu Honglian right after the wedding.
Mr. Gu sighed, realizing that his grandson left at home couldn’t be relied on. If only Gu Jingzhe hadn’t gone to Shengjing, he could’ve swallowed his pride and asked him for help. Then the Fan Family wouldn’t dare go too far.