A day ago was the day Fan Tong received his scholar’s grain and silver.
Fan Tong had casually mentioned it before, and Gu Honglian remembered it.
She was eagerly anticipating Fan Tong handing over the silver for her to manage.
Gu Honglian thought to herself that since she was now Fan Tong’s wife, both emotionally and logically, Fan Tong’s grain and silver should be given to her.
Even if not all of it, she could accept half being given to her and the other half to Grandma Fan.
The government-issued scholar’s grain and silver had usually been spent mostly by Fan Tong himself, with a small portion handed over to his sister-in-law to manage.
This time was no different.
Upon finding out, Gu Honglian didn’t dare show a sour face. She patiently reasoned with Fan Tong, explaining that the two of them would eventually have children and that without grain and silver, how would they support their children? She urged Fan Tong to consider her and the children in the future.
Fan Tong spread his hands, telling Gu Honglian to subsidize with her dowry.
Gu Honglian was naturally unwilling to spend her savings, but Fan Tong accused her of not being virtuous, saying that his sister-in-law had been managing the household and working in the fields to support him through school for many years, so it was only right that he gave her grain and silver, and Honglian should not interfere with his decisions.
When the Fan family’s sister-in-law found out, she cried in front of Grandma Fan.
She complained that Gu Honglian couldn’t tolerate her, calculating against her, despite all she had done for the family, and that even a little grain and silver given by her brother-in-law made her jealous.
Grandma Fan called Gu Honglian over and scolded her, causing Gu Honglian to break down and cry, recounting all the grievances she had suffered since marrying into the Fan family.
As she spoke, she started arguing with the Fan family’s sister-in-law, which quickly escalated into hair-pulling.
The Fan family’s sister-in-law, used to doing farm work, pinned Gu Honglian down and beat her; Gu Honglian was no match for her.
In desperation, Gu Honglian bit the Fan family’s sister-in-law’s arm, drawing blood, and the sister-in-law screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
As the Fan family’s sister-in-law pinned Gu Honglian down and beat her, Fan Tong remained expressionless.
When Gu Honglian bit the sister-in-law, Fan Tong’s anger finally surfaced, and he pulled them apart, then slapped Gu Honglian hard, knocking her to the ground.
Gu Honglian, who had never been hit from childhood to adulthood, was so angry that she wanted to jump into a well on the spot.
She lay in bed for two days, and no one came to see her.
Two days later, before dawn, Gu Honglian sneaked back to her parents’ home behind the Fan family’s back.
Upon hearing Gu Honglian’s story, Tong Huaqiong and the others felt that the Fan family was nothing more than a den of wolves.
Any daughter-in-law who went in would lose a layer of skin.
Especially someone as naive as Gu Honglian.
"...That bastard Fan Tong, he actually hit me." Gu Honglian sobbed uncontrollably. "It’s one thing for the old hag and my sister-in-law to hit me, but Fan Tong didn’t stand up for me. They’re a family, and it makes me feel like an outsider."
Even Grandma Gu was crying.
Her youngest daughter had been spoiled from a young age, regardless of whether their days were rich or poor. She had never been hit, nor spoken to harshly.
This was unacceptable.
"That old hag and your sister-in-law, that wench, I’ll skin them alive." Grandma Gu declared.
Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that Grandma Gu was tough at home, but if she really faced off with Grandma Fan, who would skin whom was still uncertain.
Mr. Gu sighed and said, "It’s all because of poverty. If the family had been able to provide Honglian with a larger dowry, this wouldn’t have happened."
Tong Huaqiong wasn’t sure if Mr. Gu really thought this way, but she knew he was hinting that her dowry had been insufficient.
Tong Huaqiong sneered and said to Mr. Gu, "With the Fan family being such a place of tiger and wolves, is it really a matter of dowry? Even if she had brought a large dowry, could Honglian have kept it? They would have snatched the dowry away and continued bullying her."
"Your daughter has been bullied like this, and you’re here talking about dowry. When you encounter something like this, don’t blame yourself; this is clearly the Fan family’s fault."
Gu Baishuang added, "That’s right. The Fan family prides themselves on having a scholar for a son. They look down on little aunt from the bottom of their hearts. If the little aunt brought a large dowry, they would think it’s deserved, and such a family might harbor ill intentions for the dowry. Without a dowry, they just torment her. Regardless of dowry, life wouldn’t be easy. I say the mistake was in making this match."
Tong Huaqiong nodded.
Being chastised by daughter-in-law and granddaughter in public made Mr. Gu’s face turn dark.
Grandma Gu looked at Tong Huaqiong, uncertain whether the daughter-in-law had come to laugh at Honglian or to offer advice.
Mr. Gu found an excuse to step down and turned to Gu Dahuan and Gu Fengnian, saying, "I called you here to discuss the matter of your little aunt being bullied in the Fan family. You both heard how inhumane the Fan family is, what do you think?"
Gu Dahuan and Gu Fengnian exchanged a glance and said, "As the eldest sister mentioned earlier, the Fan family was never a suitable match. Grandpa and Grandma, you bear some responsibility for this too. You always wanted to marry little aunt off to someone of higher status, but you never considered the downsides of that. If you had just investigated the Fan family’s morals a little..."
Mr. Gu and Grandma Gu felt a pang of conscience.
They knew about the Fan family’s situation but allowed Gu Honglian to marry in because the scholar’s status overshadowed everything else.
Mr. Gu said, "Forget that now, since the marriage is already made, what do you propose we do?"
Gu Dahuan said, "Maybe we should consider divorce."
"No way," Mr. and Grandma Gu chorused.
Mr. Gu wanted to whack Gu Dahuan on the shoe, how could the Gu family produce a divorced woman?
Considering divorce shortly after marriage, that would be so humiliating!
After divorce, it would be difficult for Honglian to remarry. Who would protect her when he and his wife are gone to heaven?
Their purpose in calling Gu Dahuan and Gu Fengnian was to back Gu Honglian at the Fan family.
"Divorce is out of the question; the Gu family cannot produce a divorced woman."
Gu Honglian nodded, she didn’t want to divorce either.
She wanted to live peacefully with Fan Tong and be a stable wife of a scholar.
Mr. Gu looked past Gu Dahuan. This grandson had been influenced by the eldest daughter-in-law to consider divorce easily, as if Tong Pandi’s divorce was something to be proud of. Mr. Gu then looked at Gu Fengnian and asked, "Fengnian, what do you think?"
Gu Fengnian said, "Grandpa, whatever you say, we’ll do."
Gu Fengnian kicked the ball back to Mr. Gu.
His little aunt was bullied, and Gu Fengnian wanted to stand up for her.
Otherwise, people would think Gu family’s daughters were easy targets.
However, he and Gu Dahuan were not used to fighting, and Gu Ruinian was even less reliable.
Mr. Gu’s eyes darkened.
It seemed the grandsons were not up to the task.
He started missing Jingzhe and Dashi. With Jingzhe’s backing, Dashi would have already beaten them up.
After some thought, Mr. Gu said, "How about you brothers visit the Fan family and seek out the Clan Leader to demand justice."
Gu Honglian thought this was a good idea.
Only the Clan Leader could suppress the old hag and the wicked sister-in-law.
Sobbing, she said, "Ever since I married into the Fan family, I feel I haven’t done anything wrong, yet they keep picking on me. This is wrong, that is wrong. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s characters are well known to the Clan Leader. If the Clan Leader opens the ancestral hall to seek justice, he will surely side with me."
Gu Honglian thought that even if she said nothing, standing there with a bruised face in front of the Clan Leader would make him support her.
Tong Huaqiong shook her head.
Gu Honglian was too naive.