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

Chapter 629 The Bad Guy Must Be the Wife
Wu Na had her veil lifted.

This was the first time the villagers had seen Wu Na's true face.

My first impression was that the bride was quite dark-skinned, even darker than Gu Honglian.

Gu Ruinian endured his nausea and drank the nuptial wine with Wu Na.

"Have a son soon."

The matchmaker shouted a few times, then chased the onlookers out and closed the door.

Wu Na was pregnant, and the two spent their wedding night chatting.

"I'm marrying you, not your whole family. Don't accuse me of being selfish. I want to separate from you and live separately. We have ten acres of fertile land and five hundred taels of silver. I've already thought it through. We'll rent a house in town and lease out the ten acres of land. With your whole family, we can only live a poor life. If it's just the two of us living separately, life will be much better." Wu Na told Gu Ruinian about her plans.

Gu Ruinian thought so too.

However, he cannot bring up this idea; if he does, it would be considered unfilial.

This idea must be proposed to Grandpa Gu and the others by Wu Na.

Anyway, his wife has never gotten along with his family of origin. If bad things happen, the villagers will only talk about Wu Na's faults, not Gu Ruinian's.

Isn't that the role of a daughter-in-law?
To be filial to one's parents and to fight for one's own interests.

"But outsiders will say we're unfilial." Gu Ruinian was overjoyed, but deliberately pretended to be troubled.

The wife has to play the bad guy.

Wu Na said, "What's wrong with being unfilial? You've just been studying too much and have too many worries. Didn't your older brother and sister-in-law also move out? If you're not comfortable saying it, I will."

Gu Ruinian smiled in the flickering candlelight and said to Wu Na with affection in his eyes, "Wouldn't that be unfair to you? I really can't bear to see you suffer. How about we don't separate the family? I'm afraid people will say that I've forgotten my mother after getting married, which will ruin your reputation."

Wu Na felt a burning desire under Gu Ruinian's gaze. The phrase "marrying a wife and forgetting one's mother" filled her with joy. She retorted, "Living with your whole family would be so unfair. You're my man, so naturally you should only think of me. Reputation is nothing. If I cared about reputation, would I have gotten pregnant before we were even married?"

Speaking of pregnancy, Wu Na touched her belly and said, "Now that we have a child, we have to think about the child for everything else. When the time comes, the three of us will live together behind closed doors."

With a look of deep emotion, Gu Ruinian hugged Wu Na and said, "Thank you for your hard work, my wife. I will treat you and our child well from now on."

Wu Na smiled.

Gu Ruinian said, "By the way, have you kept your dowry list safe? It's so noisy today, I'm afraid someone might steal your dowry list."

Gu Ruinian wanted Wu Na to hand over her dowry to him.

After the wedding ceremony, Gu Ruinian had already secretly searched through Wu Na's five-bearer dowry. Inside were nothing more than cloth, chamber pots, spittoons, and the like. He did not see the land deeds for the ten acres of fertile land or the silver notes.

It seems the Wu family feared being outmaneuvered by the Gu family, so they had Wu Na keep it close at hand.

Thinking this way, Gu Ruinian felt dissatisfied with Wu Ren.

Even though Wu Na has married him, the Wu family is still wary of him.

Although Wu Na was love-struck, she wasn't stupid when it came to her dowry. She understood Gu Ruinian's hint but pretended not to, saying, "My mother hid it at the bottom of the trunk for me. I'll look for it tomorrow."

She wanted to keep the dowry in her own hands; even her husband couldn't control it.

Only by holding onto the dowry can you hold onto your husband.

Gu Ruinian said, "I was just asking casually. You can handle your dowry. Once we separate our family and move to town, I'll find a copying job, which will definitely be enough to support you and the children."

Gu Ruinian felt a surge of anxiety. He searched through the chests but couldn't find the dowry list at all.

The only solution is to appease Wu Na and get her to offer her dowry voluntarily.

After hearing Gu Ruinian's assurance, Wu Na fell asleep contentedly.

The next day, I struggled to get up early to serve tea to my elders.

It snowed again that night. In this freezing weather, the charcoal fire in the main room wasn't burning bright enough, and Wu Na shivered as she crawled inside. When it was time to serve tea, Old Madam Gu presented Wu Na with a silver hairpin with a gentle expression, while Madam Jia scanned Wu Na's stomach with a look of disgust in her eyes.

How can a woman who is pregnant out of wedlock be a match for your own son?

Gu Youtian glanced at Jia Shi, his expression carrying a veiled warning.

It means don't act like a mother-in-law yet; first, coax the daughter-in-law to hand over her dowry.

Jia reluctantly took off the silver bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Wu Na.

Wu Na took the silver hairpin and silver bracelet, her face showing displeasure. What family gives these when they marry off their son?
She didn't even ask for a bride price.

If it weren't for her growing belly, she wouldn't have been so easily appeased.

However, considering the prospect of separating the family, she held back for the time being.

She'll settle this score with them sooner or later.

Despite feeling nauseous, Wei gave Wu Na a bolt of satin, exchanged a few pleasantries with her, and then took her leave, as she had to hurry to the weaving workshop to work.

"Today is the day you return to your parents' home. All the gifts have been prepared for you. It's hard to hire a carriage because of the snow, so we borrowed a donkey cart from the clan. Ruinian has difficulty walking, so I asked the clan chief to arrange for two brothers from the clan to accompany you and pull the cart for you. They will come to your house in the donkey cart after breakfast."

The day after the wedding is the day for the bride to return to her parents' home, and Grandpa Gu has already made arrangements.

Wu Na waved her hand and said, "No need for that trouble. It's freezing cold. My parents said we don't need to go back. We'll go back after spring."

Grandpa Gu and Gu Youtian were taken aback. Wu Ren wasn't the kind of person who didn't follow the rules.

It can only be said that he still does not recognize Gu Ruinian as his son-in-law, and he won't even let him return to the house.

However, no matter how unwilling Wu Ren was, his daughter still married into the Gu family.

He is currently dissatisfied with the Gu family's scheme against Wu Na, but once the child is born, his anger will subside, and he will naturally take the initiative to accept the marriage.

After all, if he doesn't acknowledge her, Wu Na will be bullied by the Gu family without her family's support, and in the end, it will be his daughter who suffers.

Grandpa Gu and Gu Youtian understood this very well.

"Granddaughter-in-law, come, sit here. It's close to the charcoal brazier." Grandma Gu patted the side next to her, and Wu Na went over and sat down.

Grandma Gu wholeheartedly agreed with the idea of ​​not returning to her parents' home after marriage.

The Wu family is a bunch of scoundrels; taking those gifts back would be like feeding them to the dogs.

Now that they're not allowed to return to their parents' home, it actually saves them money.

Grandma Gu's kind attitude made Wu Na feel somewhat favorably toward her.

After everyone inquired about Wu Na's health, Jia Shi, at Gu Youtian's prompting, changed the subject and said, "Nana, now that you've married into the Gu family, I will treat you like my own daughter."

Wu Na wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't want to be treated like a daughter; what if she was sold?

Seeing the impatience on Wu Na's face, Madam Jia felt a pang of anger and thought of getting angry. But then she remembered Wu Na's dowry and softened her tone, saying, "We are all overjoyed that Ruinian is marrying you. To make your marriage a grand occasion, we asked the head chef of Fengle Restaurant to prepare a feast yesterday. In addition, the house has been renovated, the bed is newly made, and the sheets, blankets, and quilts are all newly bought. It cost quite a bit in all sorts of things."

Wu Na frowned; her mother-in-law had just started complaining to her after she got married.

Do you really think she's easy to bully?
Gu Youtian coughed and pretended to scold Jia: "Why are you bringing this up when it's such a joyous occasion for the child?"

With a troubled expression, Madam Jia said, "Now that Nana has married into the family, we're all family. What can't we say as family?"

“Nana, your wedding this time cost a lot. Your family borrowed two hundred taels of silver to make you look good in front of outsiders, and we have to pay them back.”

"Whoever borrowed it should pay it back; it's none of my business."

Wu Na firmly pushed back.