Fan Tong had never been so humiliated.
He knelt before a woman.
And this woman was his wife. If it spread out, the Fan Family would lose face.
Gu Honglian looked down at Fan Tong from above.
Fan Tong was extremely embarrassed, his azure shirt was torn.
Gu Honglian stepped forward, and Fan Tong covered his face with his hands, trembling as he said, "Honglian, I really know I was wrong. Come home with me."
Gu Honglian suddenly laughed.
She suddenly realized Fan Tong was just like that.
He was also afraid of pain, afraid of being hit.
And despite losing so much face, he never thought about divorcing her; instead, he was afraid she would leave the Fan Family.
"Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? Let your mother and elder sister-in-law come to apologize to me, otherwise I won’t return to the Fan Family."
"Get lost."
Gu Honglian’s face was icy cold.
"Are your ears deaf? Didn’t you hear Little Aunt’s words?" Gu Dahuan lifted Fan Tong and threw him outside.
After Fan Tong left, Gu Honglian almost collapsed.
Grandma Gu held Gu Honglian’s hand with a heart full of hurt.
Because she was too strong, Gu Honglian’s hand hurt so fiercely at that moment, it was as if it was cramping and couldn’t move.
Grandma Gu massaged it while saying, "Won’t Fan Tong regret not wanting our Honglian after returning home?"
According to Grandma Gu, since the beating and the anger had been dealt with, and Fan Tong had apologized, Gu Honglian might as well step down and go home with Fan Tong.
She was truly afraid that when Fan Tong returned home, Fan Grandma would get angry and have him divorce Gu Honglian.
Gu Honglian said, "Fan Tong thinks the same as you, he’s competing with me now."
Tong Huaqiong thought that after this encounter, Gu Honglian had started using her brain and even knew about competing.
Gu Honglian turned to Tong Huaqiong and said, "Big Sister-In-Law is right, I need to subdue him, so he won’t dare to bully me in the future; this is not enough yet."
Then she said to Grandma Gu, "The Fan Family won’t divorce me. Even if that old hag wants to divorce me, Fan Tong would disagree. Fan Tong still hopes Jingzhe will become an official and support him. I’ve figured it out, I am the aunt of an official, and no one in Pingchuan County has ever become an official. Only the Fan Family can depend on me; I don’t need to depend on the Fan Family."
Tong Huaqiong rubbed her forehead, Gu Jingzhe was not yet an official, yet Gu Honglian had such confidence in Gu Jingzhe.
Gu Honglian wiped her hands; she was thinking far beyond this.
She thought that even if Jingzhe became an official and a high-ranking one, he wouldn’t allow Jingzhe to lift Fan Tong to a high position.
Fan Tong was very petty-minded, having suffered such great humiliation today; if he ever became successful, he would retaliate against her even more.
If Fan Tong could pass the scholar exams, he could become a township scholar, stuck in an in-between position, then he would be controlled by her.
If he couldn’t pass the scholar exams, he might just become a scholar, and through his nephew’s connections, find a private school in Pingchuan County to become a teacher, where she could still control him behind closed doors, and life would still be rather comfortable.
Fan Tong stumbled back to the Fan Family.
Fan Grandma and Mistress Fan were furious.
Not only did they fail to bring back the person, but Gu Honglian also beat Fan Tong.
It was simply turning the heavens upside down.
Fan Grandma cried and scolded, demanding Fan Tong write a divorce paper on the spot.
Her son was a scholar, destined to become an official, and yet was beaten by a village wench.
Mistress Fan said divorcing her was too cheap for Gu Honglian; she should have Gu Honglian cry and beg to return to the Fan Family, be treated like livestock for a while, and then find a reason to drown her in a pond.
Fan Tong felt as if he had come out of hell at the Gu Family; he had PTSD.
If he could, he also wanted to divorce Gu Honglian.
But divorcing Gu Honglian meant going against Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe, and his reputation would stink throughout Pingchuan County.
Moreover, divorcing Gu Honglian meant he would lose the connections with Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe.
Not divorcing her, he felt extremely humiliated recalling the beating.
Thinking it over and over, he decided to swallow this breath, considering first coaxing Gu Honglian back to the Fan Family before retaliating.
Therefore, Fan Tong analyzed for Fan Grandma and Mistress Fan the reasons why he couldn’t divorce Gu Honglian and expressed Gu Honglian’s conditions for returning to the Fan Family.
"The Gu Family bullies too much."
"...What is she thinking? A village wench marrying a scholar is already high enough for her, I haven’t even disliked her for having a small dowry and being unable to work, yet she wants me and your elder sister-in-law to beg her repeatedly? Even if we were willing to visit her like seeking worthy talents, we’d have to see if she resembles Liu Bei." Fan Grandma started scolding upon hearing that.
"Little slut, she even dares to make such demands, spoil her. Second Brother, you should’ve slapped her hard, just like you slapped last time, you should slap this time. A beaten-up wife is like kneaded dough, if you yield this time, she might ride atop me and mother." Mistress Fan scolded.
Thinking how useless the younger brother was for being beaten like that by Gu Honglian.
Fan Tong felt a bitterness in his mouth, thinking if he dared to slap her, he wouldn’t walk out of the Gu Family.
This was only Gu Honglian acting now, neither Gu Dahuan nor Gu Fengnian had acted.
"Mother, Big Sister-In-Law, for the sake of my future, please make the sacrifice to visit the Gu Family. Honestly, Big Sister-In-Law, you shouldn’t have attacked her so viciously back then." Fan Tong persuaded Fan Grandma and Mistress Fan to go to the Gu Family to bring back Gu Honglian, not daring to mention an apology.
Fan Grandma refused on the spot, wiping her tears, saying her son married a wife and forgot his mother.
Mistress Fan almost scolded the white-eyed wolf, asking if he was feeling sorry for just hitting his wife a few times.
Finally, both of them said that unless the Gu Family sends her back, the Fan Family would deliver a divorce paper to Gu Honglian.
Fan Tong, unable to persuade his mother and elder sister-in-law, helplessly visited the Gu Family again the next day.
Thinking Gu Honglian beat him; after a day, her anger would have subsided, and she would return with him upon hearing a few soft words.
Upon arriving at the Gu Family, Mr. Gu and Grandma Gu were somewhat inclined to simply let Gu Honglian return with Fan Tong.
Following the eldest daughter-in-law’s lead, acting recklessly would make things difficult to contain.
Gu Honglian had become a staunch supporter of Tong Huaqiong, only listening to Tong Huaqiong. Seeing Fan Tong come back empty-handed, she entered the house without any expression.
"Honglian, come home with me." Fan Tong pleaded.
The face that usually looked somewhat good was now swollen like a pig’s head, not subsiding overnight, but more swollen instead.
Waiting for Fan Tong was Gu Honglian, wielding a knife.
"Little Aunt, watch out, don’t chop near his groin, you still need him to bear sons for you. You can’t chop his belly, if he dies, you’ll be imprisoned. Just aim for his backside, the flesh there is thick, you won’t kill him or hurt the root." Wu Na shouted excitedly from the corridor.
Without saying a word, Gu Honglian swung the knife at Fan Tong.
Fan Tong screeched as he dashed out from the old Gu residence.
Soon, chaos ensued in Qinghe Bay.
Fan Tong ran frantically ahead, shouting as he ran, his voice changing from the strain.
Gu Honglian chased closely behind, her knife casting afterimages.
Chickens, ducks, and geese on the path squawked and hid in alarm.
Villagers came out of their homes to watch the commotion.
Gu Honglian completely gave up her dignity and turned into a total shrew.