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

Chapter 695 Silence Means Certainty
Gu Honglian began to sob again.

She also hoped her sister-in-law would provide a dowry, but her sister-in-law completely ignored her.

Madam Jia then offered Gu Honglian some advice, saying, "Sister, this is how our family is. There's no use in you complaining. Whose money isn't for the men to spend? Ruinian is a descendant of the Gu family, so he has the right to spend the family's money."

“You can’t get a dowry by crying in front of us, but there is one person who can.”

Gu Honglian stopped crying and asked, "Who?"

Grandma Gu looked at Madam Jia with hopeful eyes.

Wei sneered, thinking that her own mother-in-law was no good either.

Jia said, "Your sister-in-law has just married a wonderful daughter-in-law."

Gu Honglian frowned and said, "She only gave me a gold hairpin. Do I expect her to give me a dowry? She is my sister-in-law's daughter-in-law, so naturally she is on my sister-in-law's side. If my sister-in-law doesn't agree, she certainly won't give it to me."

Madam Jia laughed and said, "How can a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law be truly of one mind? Every daughter-in-law has a problem with her mother-in-law. If I were you, I would try to please Jingzhe's wife and cry to her about how your sister-in-law didn't give you a dowry. Maybe that would evoke her sympathy, and then she would give you your dowry."

Gu Honglian wiped away her tears and looked at Old Madam Gu.

Grandma Gu's heart skipped a beat.

She thought Lu Zhaozhao looked like a naive and innocent girl.

Indeed, she's the granddaughter of a wealthy merchant family; she's never lacked money since childhood and is always generous with her spending.

She had heard that when Lu Zhaozhao first met Tong Pandi, out of sympathy for Tong Pandi's divorce, she immediately gave Hua'er Duo'er a large gold lock inlaid with jade.

Even when Liu Yue'e's mother, Zhao, celebrated her birthday, Lu Zhaozhao happened to be there and immediately gave her a pair of large gold bracelets and two bolts of shimmering brocade. Zhao was so delighted that she praised Lu Zhaozhao to everyone she met, saying that she was beautiful and kind-hearted.

Regardless, Gu Honglian is Gu Jingzhe's aunt, so crying in front of her will definitely evoke her sympathy.

Besides, Lu Zhaozhao is rich.

Those dowry baskets were so tempting!

She could easily give Honglian a dowry, which would be enough for her dowry.

Grandma Gu said, "Honglian, your second sister-in-law is right. I think Jingzhe's wife is soft-hearted. You should plead with her properly. With so much dowry, a little bit will be enough."

"Giving you a few loads of dowry is nothing to her."

The more Grandma Gu thought about it, the more reliable the matter seemed. She would find some time later to have Lu Zhaozhao come over so she could personally tell her about it.

The newlywed bride was shy, and she didn't believe Lu Zhaozhao would have the nerve to refuse.

Madam Wei couldn't help but roll her eyes. Not long ago, her great-grandmother-in-law had complained that Lu Zhaozhao was a vixen, but now she was scheming to take advantage of her dowry.

Gu Honglian's tear-reddened eyes instantly lit up. Who wouldn't envy Lu Zhaozhao's dowry? She couldn't wait to go to Lu Zhaozhao right now to curry favor with her.

Wei and Gu Xiaoxue exchanged glances, thinking disdainfully, "Do Old Madam Gu and Jia think Lu Zhaozhao is a fool?"
If Lu Zhaozhao were really like them, easily getting generous donations just by crying in front of her, how could Old Master Lu dare to give the Lu family's business to Lu Zhaozhao?
Wei and Gu Xiaoxue really didn't want to listen to them anymore, so they took their leave.

Last year, Wei and Gu Fengnian built a house in the village and moved away from the old house. If Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao hadn't offered tea to acknowledge their kinship today, they wouldn't have come to the old house to chat with the old people.

The two left the old house and went directly to Tong Huaqiong's place.

"That grandma is really something. She tried to squeeze money out of her as soon as her third brother's wife got married. Doesn't she feel ashamed if word gets out?"

"They didn't even feel ashamed to help Ruinian plot against Wu Na's premarital pregnancy, let alone plot against their third brother's wife's dowry."

Upon learning from the two that Old Madam Gu wanted Lu Zhaozhao to give up Gu Honglian's dowry, Chen Sufen and Liu Yue'e couldn't help but start cursing.

Gu Taohua stood up abruptly and said, "I'm going to the old house."

Tong Huaqiong grabbed Gu Taohua and said, "Where are you going? You think you can just give in to their schemes against your third sister-in-law? You think too little of your third sister-in-law."

Tong Huaqiong felt that this matter was not worth mentioning at all.

Who wouldn't want to scheme against the Gu family's old mansion? They'd even want to scheme against her family fortune; they could certainly scheme against her. But it all depends on what Lu Zhaozhao thinks.

If Lu Zhaozhao feels that giving Gu Honglian a small dowry is not a big deal, she will respect Lu Zhaozhao's opinion.

After all, Lu Zhaozhao is a person, and she is Lu Zhaozhao's mother-in-law. There is no need for her to interfere in Lu Zhaozhao's every matter.

Besides, there's Gu Jingzhe; he's always there to step up and protect us.

After paying respects to their ancestors, Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao walked out of the ancestral hall.

Grandpa Gu sat to the side with a very unpleasant expression.

It turns out that when Grandpa Gu instructed Lu Zhaozhao to have offspring for the Gu family, he learned from Gu Jingzhe that one of the children Lu Zhaozhao would have would take the Lu family name.

This was also a condition agreed upon by Grandpa Lu and Tong Huaqiong during the marriage negotiations.

The Lu family's business will be managed by Lu Zhaozhao from now on. Old Master Lu made it clear that he was unwilling to give all of the Lu family's assets to the Gu family, so one of Lu Zhaozhao's children must be a member of the Lu family.

When Grandpa Gu heard this news, he was furious.

His precious grandson, a scholar who only comes from eighteen generations of ancestors, a potential candidate who will soon turn the Gu family's status from peasant to official, actually lowered his stance to please a merchant. He not only protected his wife like the apple of his eye, but even wanted to give the Lu family a child from the Gu family.

Grandpa Gu started cursing Gu Jingzhe for being unfilial in the ancestral hall.

Gu Jingzhe had to endure Old Master Gu's anger.

This matter could have been kept secret, but Gu Jingzhe felt there was no need to.

Firstly, he couldn't sever ties with his clan, and this matter couldn't be kept secret sooner or later, so it was better to inform them sooner rather than later.

Secondly, since Lu Zhaozhao will be in charge of the Lu family's business in the future, there is a fear that some members of the clan might have inappropriate thoughts and regard the Lu family's property as belonging to the Gu family.

"Grandpa, Zhao Zhao and I will go back first. Please try to think more positively about everything. As the saying goes, children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so you don't need to worry about my affairs." Gu Jingzhe was very considerate to Grandpa Gu.

Grandpa Gu glared angrily.

Try to think positively. His bloodline has taken the Lu family name, how can he be happy about that?

What if the child we give away has the potential to become a high-ranking official? Wouldn't that be a waste of the Lu family's money?

Grandpa Gu was deeply saddened by the loss of a child who could have made the family genealogy shine.

In an instant, the Lu family's wealth no longer seemed appealing to Old Master Gu.

"Jingzhe, my dear wife, you've just married into the family. Come over for dinner tonight."

Thinking of Gu Honglian's dowry, Old Master Gu suppressed his anger and gently invited Lu Zhaozhao to have dinner at the Gu family's old house.

Lu Zhaozhao neither refused nor agreed, but simply smiled at Gu Jingzhe.

Grandpa Gu felt resentful, realizing he had underestimated his granddaughter-in-law.

She appeared to be quietly following Gu Jingzhe, but in reality, she was the one in charge, leading even her own grandson astray.

He had such a big outburst in the ancestral hall just now, and she didn't say anything about the fact that one of her children would have the surname Lu.

Not expressing an opinion means they are determined to win.

Gu Jingzhe smiled at Grandpa Gu and said, "Grandpa, Zhaozhao and I are going back to our parents' home tomorrow, so we need to rush back to prepare. We'll go to the old house for dinner when we have time."

How could he not know what his grandfather was thinking?

This person must be after Lu Zhaozhao's things to invite her to dinner.

Seeing that Gu Jingzhe showed no mercy, Old Master Gu was so angry that he wanted to beat Gu Jingzhe up.