The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Gu Honglian ran out of the old house.

The more she thought about the satin, the sadder she became. She hid in the pig farm and cried incessantly, not even going home for lunch.

After finishing lunch, Tong Pandi went to check on the pig farm. He heard crying coming from the corner of the wall. When he went over, he saw that it was Gu Honglian.

Tong Pandi still showed some respect for her aunt's younger sister.

Besides, Tong Pandi couldn't just stand by and watch a young girl cry so heartbrokenly.

Tong Pandi asked, "Aunt Honglian, what's wrong? Why are you crying here?"

Gu Honglian looked up and saw that it was Tong Pandi. She sobbed and said, "They bullied me."

Tong Pandi asked, "Who bullied you?"

Gu Honglian cried, "Gu Ruinian, my second sister-in-law, my father, they all bullied me."

Tong Pandi didn't know what to say, so she comforted Gu Honglian for a few words and then went into the pig farm.

After leaving the pig farm, they found Gu Honglian still crying. They tried to comfort her, but to no avail. Gu Honglian held Tong Pandi's hand and said that she was very hungry and did not want to go back to the old house. Tong Pandi gritted her teeth and took her back to Tong Huaqiong's house.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Tong Huaqiong asked when she saw that Gu Honglian's eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying.

When Gu Honglian saw Tong Huaqiong, she almost burst into tears as if she were seeing a relative, and she cried uncontrollably.

Seeing Lu Zhaozhao reminded her of the satin she had given away, and she felt even more aggrieved.

Tong Huaqiong suspected that Gu Honglian might have been bullied by someone in the village. After all, she had always been pampered in the old house, and it was unlikely that anyone there would mistreat her.

Gu Taohua handed Gu Honglian a handkerchief and said, "Auntie, what's wrong? Who bullied you?"

Gu Honglian took the handkerchief and wiped away her tears, choking back sobs as she said, "My second sister-in-law Ruinian and my father both bully me. They want to pawn the satin that Zhaozhao gave me to buy books for Ruinian. Waaah, it was a gift from Zhaozhao, why do they have to pawn it?"

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that this matter was indeed not Gu Honglian's fault.

What Jia and Gu Ruinian did was indeed unethical.

What's even more infuriating is that it was Lu Zhaozhao's satin, which really benefited Gu Ruinian.

"So you agreed?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Gu Honglian said, "I have no choice but to agree; Father has already spoken."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Your father was wrong, and your second sister-in-law and Gu Ruinian were both wrong. How can you take your aunt's satin to buy books for your nephew?"

If we continue, it will be seen as sowing discord.

Tong Huaqiong quickly shut her mouth.

Despite Gu Honglian's current miserable state of crying, once this ordeal passes and a conflict arises between the old house and Tong Huaqiong, Gu Honglian will still stand by the old house.

Seeing that Gu Honglian's hair was disheveled from crying and her stomach was rumbling, Liu Yue'e was asked to bring Gu Honglian a meal.

Gu Honglian cried all noon and didn't eat. At this moment, the hungry people saw the food being served and hurriedly picked up the table and ate it.

After finishing eating and wiping my mouth, I still felt uneasy thinking about that piece of satin.

So he pleaded with Lu Zhaozhao, "Zhaozhao, could you please send me another horse?"

Tong Huaqiong's sympathy for Gu Honglian vanished instantly.

She couldn't fight against Old Master Gu, so she wanted to take advantage of Lu Zhaozhao.

Tong Huaqiong said sternly, "Honglian, what nonsense are you talking about? You can't protect the satin. Even if we give you another bolt, it might end up in your second sister-in-law's hands." Gu Honglian looked at Lu Zhaozhao with a wronged expression after hearing her sister-in-law's words.

Lu Zhaozhao said, "Aunt, putting aside what Aunt Tong said, I don't have any extra satin now that you're asking me for it. The satin I gave you is very rare. It's said that only one lady in the palace gets two bolts. If I had known you wouldn't keep it, I shouldn't have given it to you. It's a waste of a good bolt of satin."

Lu Zhaozhao and Tong Huaqiong were of one mind; she was really angry that her fine satin had fallen into Gu Ruinian's hands.

He doesn't deserve it!

“Aunt, you’ve always had a bad temper. Everyone knows that good things should be saved for you. How could you tolerate Gu Ruinian taking your things? So what if he’s a student? Does being a student mean you can steal your aunt’s things? Does being a student mean you don’t have to be filial? He’s taking your satin under the guise of buying books now, and he can take your betrothal gifts under the guise of needing money for the exams later. Think about it, even if the old house was broke, Grandpa and Grandma never thought of touching your things. Why are they taking your things now just because of Gu Ruinian?”

Gu Honglian fell into deep thought after hearing Gu Taohua's words.

"You might be paving the way for Gu Ruinian's future. Giving up the satin probably didn't bring you any good; instead, they'd say you're stingy and immature. Look, you've been crying all afternoon, and they haven't come out to look for you."

Gu Honglian gritted her teeth.

“Little aunt, where did your temper go? Why don’t you cry and make a scene for them? Instead, you hide outside and cry. The more you do this, the more smug Gu Ruinian and your second aunt will be. If you don’t cry and make a scene, they will think you are easy to bully. Just wait, there will be even greater grievances waiting for you in the future.”

Gu Honglian stood up, her face grim, and left Tong Huaqiong's courtyard, turning towards the old house.

Gu Taohua pulled Lu Zhaozhao along to watch the excitement.

Gu Honglian grew angrier and more aggrieved the more she thought about it.

Gu Taohua is right. If she gives in this time, who knows what she'll have to give up in the future.

“Gu Ruinian, you bastard, don’t think you can bully your aunt just because you’re a student. You’ve wasted your time studying. You’ve even abandoned your filial piety to buy books, and you’re going to pawn my clothes.”

Provoked by Gu Taohua, Gu Honglian suddenly had a brain.

She didn't leave the old house without a conflict, nor did she return to the old house to start cursing again. Instead, she walked, cursed, and cried all the way.

Gu Honglian had made up her mind. With Old Master Gu holding the satin hostage, she most likely wouldn't be able to get it back.

Since that's the case, she can't let Jia and Gu Ruinian benefit from it.

She wanted the whole village to know that Gu Ruinian was unfilial and that he had bullied his unmarried aunt.

Sure enough, the villagers were drawn in by Gu Honglian's cursing and followed her around, watching the spectacle unfold.

"Honglian, what did Ruinian do to make you so sad?" Tong Huaqiong, a woman from the Gu family, called her second aunt and asked as she came up.

Since failing the exam, Gu Ruinian's reputation in the village has plummeted, bringing a negative impact to his clan.

Everyone had heard that Gu Ruinian ate alone at home and often used studying as an excuse to neglect the well-being of his family. Now, he had also done something that involved selling his aunt's clothes. This made the second aunt, who always cared about the clan's affairs, have an even worse opinion of Gu Ruinian.

Gu Honglian held her second aunt's hand, crying and talking at the same time.

She embellished the story, recounting how Gu Ruinian had instigated Jia Shi to force her to give up the valuable satin given to her by Lu Zhaozhao.

She knew perfectly well that Gu Ruinian was not present immediately when Jia proposed pawning her satin.

But she was determined to pin the blame on Gu Ruinian, since the money from pawning the satin would ultimately be spent on him.

Why should he reap all the benefits while hiding in the background, while she gets the blame for being stingy?

Gu Taohua is right. If she doesn't tell everyone about her grievances now, who knows how Gu Ruinian will sacrifice her in the future.

After hearing Gu Honglian's tearful account, everyone's contempt for Gu Ruinian grew even stronger. (End of Chapter)