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

Chapter 696 Sincerity is far more important than dowry
I thought that after Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao returned to their parents' home, they would live in the prefectural city.

Three days later, the two returned.

Lu Zhaozhao told Tong Huaqiong that she liked living in Qinghe Bay.

Her older brother was in school, and her grandfather was away doing business, so she lived alone most of the time. Therefore, she liked lively atmospheres and longed for family life.

Looking at Lu Zhaozhao's coquettish face, Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, no wonder she was so easily manipulated by Tong Dajiao's family in her past life. It wasn't that she was easy to bully, but that she really craved the lack of family affection.

Even Liu Yue'e could swindle a lot from her in her past life. It wasn't that she was naive and easy to fool, but rather that those good things were insignificant to her compared to others.

She exchanged insignificant things for Liu Yue'e's laughter, chatter, and flattery.

"If you want to stay, then stay," Tong Huaqiong said. "It's your home anyway, so you can stay as long as you want."

However, they wouldn't be staying for long; soon Gu Jingzhe would be taking Lu Zhaozhao to Shengjing.

After Gu Jingzhe's marriage was completed, Chen Sufen returned to Peach Blossom Dessert Bakery.

Liu Yue'e rushed to Pingchuan Jufulai. Originally, she wanted to rest in Qinghewan for a while, but Lu Zhaozhao's mention of her dowry spurred her to immediately return to work.

There's no way around it; with the Lu family backing her up, Lu Zhaozhao will definitely be her mother-in-law's number one daughter-in-law in the future.

She has no family to support her, so she can only rely on herself. If she wants her mother-in-law to get a bigger share of the property in the future, she has to prove herself.

Tong Huaqiong never expected that Lu Zhaozhao's marriage would foster conflict between her daughters-in-law.

Lu Zhaozhao wasn't idle in Qinghe Bay either. The Lu family's business she was in charge of would send over account books from time to time, and she needed to review them and get advice from the business owners. She spent her days accompanying Tong Huaqiong to discuss business matters, and in her spare time, she would go shopping in Yanguan Town with Gu Taohua, Gu Xiaoxue, Tong Pandi, and others, or go to the fields to check on the crops and pick fruit in the mountains.

Life is busy but pleasant.

Ever since Lu Zhaozhao returned from her homecoming in the prefectural city, Gu Honglian has been constantly trying to make her presence known.

They praised Lu Zhaozhao's clothes as beautiful and her hairstyle as pretty. In short, they showered her with compliments and flattery in various ways.

Lu Zhaozhao noticed that her aunt was paying excessive attention to and showing her too much enthusiasm.

Finally, one day, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but ask, "Auntie, is there something you need from me?"

Gu Honglian bit her lip.

Wasn't Lu Zhaozhao supposed to be a naive and innocent girl?
She's been fawning over her for so many days, and she hasn't received anything in return.

She had personally witnessed Lu Zhaozhao frequently rewarding Su Qinglei and several other maids and servants.

He was incredibly generous with his money.

When she praised Lu Zhaozhao's hairpin for being beautiful, shouldn't Lu Zhaozhao have taken it off and given it to her?

When she cried and said that the satin that Lu Zhaozhao gave her had been pawned by her second sister-in-law, shouldn't Lu Zhaozhao have given her another one?

No, aside from comforting her and offering a few words of solace, Lu Zhaozhao had no intention of giving her anything.

Lu Zhaozhao finally took the initiative to ask her.

Since Lu Zhaozhao had asked, Gu Honglian decided to play the victim.

Second Sister-in-law is right, she can't bring it up herself, she has to let Lu Zhaozhao give it to her.

Gu Honglian smiled and said, "It's nothing serious, I just wanted to ask you how you feel about getting married."

Feeling the weight of marriage, Lu Zhaozhao suddenly blushed.

As for how she feels, it's naturally very good. Her mother-in-law is good to her, her sister-in-law is good to her, and her husband is even better to her.

But it's not good to say this to her aunt. First, her aunt is an elder; second, her aunt is not married yet; and third, she and her aunt are not close enough to confide in each other.

Lu Zhaozhao thought for a moment and then asked in return, "My aunt asked me how I feel about getting married. Does that mean my aunt has someone she likes and also wants to get married?"

Gu Honglian's face flushed red, and then she laughed. That's why Lu Zhaozhao is called a naive and innocent girl; she immediately steered the conversation to her marriage.

She was racking her brains for a way to start the conversation, but now she could smoothly transition into it.

When it comes to Gu Honglian's marriage, Gu Honglian has a lot to say.

Gu Honglian said shyly, "Zhaozhao, you really guessed it. I have indeed been discussing marriage since after the New Year."

Lu Zhaozhao asked gossipily, "Could it be that the person you're talking to for marriage is the one your aunt likes? That would be wonderful!"

"He was a scholar, a senior in the imperial examinations, and his home was in Wild Buffalo Valley."

Gu Honglian muttered about Fan Tong for a long time, then sighed and changed the subject, saying, "In our surrounding villages, besides Jingzhe, Fan Tong is the only scholar. It's a great honor for me to be able to marry him. In our Qinghe Bay, no girl has ever been able to marry a scholar. It's enough for people to gossip about a scholar marrying a peasant girl. To shut them up, my parents wanted to prepare a dowry for me so I could marry into a scholar's family in style. But you know our family's situation; my parents are short of money and haven't prepared a dowry for me yet."

Lu Zhaozhao realized that Gu Honglian hadn't come to discuss marriage with her at all, but rather to ask for her dowry.

She said that before she got married, she had almost no relationship with this aunt, but after the marriage, the aunt would always try to get close to her and do everything she could to curry favor.

It turns out that no one gets up early without a reason.

"Zhaozhao, I really envy you for having such a large dowry. To be honest, not only am I envious, but every woman in the entire Great Sheng Dynasty, except for the princess, would be envious of your dowry."

After Gu Honglian finished speaking, she looked at Lu Zhaozhao with anticipation.

She hoped that Lu Zhaozhao would understand her meaning and loosen her grip to give her several loads of dowry.

Lu Zhaozhao smiled and said, "I also think my dowry is quite large, but when it comes to dowry, I have to thank my grandfather. My grandfather started saving up my dowry when I was young, and he gave me everything he had saved, plus my mother's dowry before she passed away."

As Lu Zhaozhao spoke, her eyes reddened, her tone turned somber, and she sighed, "If my mother could live, I would rather not have these dowries. Aunt, I envy you for having a mother who loves you."

Gu Honglian was in a state of confusion.

This is not what she expected.

How did Lu Zhaozhao manage to bring up the issue of whether someone had a mother or not when it came to dowry?

It's true that she has a loving mother, but her mother can't conjure up a dowry for her, so what's there to envy?

Although Lu Zhaozhao has no mother, she has a vast fortune!

“Auntie, I’m so happy for you that you’ve found someone you like. I think nothing is more valuable than being with someone you truly love. Take Jingzhe and me, for example. I don’t care how much dowry Jingzhe gave me, and Jingzhe doesn’t want my dowry either,” Lu Zhaozhao said with a burning gaze.

Gu Honglian shook her head. At this moment, she wasn't even sure if Lu Zhaozhao was genuinely naive or just pretending.

Does Lu Zhaozhao, this young lady who grew up surrounded by money, even understand? She doesn't care about having tens of thousands of taels of gold because she actually has it.

Lu Zhaozhao continued, "From what I heard from my aunt, it seems that Scholar Fan and you are mutually in love. He probably doesn't care whether you have a dowry or not, because a sincere heart is far more important than a dowry. What do you think, Aunt?"

Gu Honglian looked at Lu Zhaozhao as if she were a fool.

She said that it was as if Lu Zhaozhao's words were meaningless.

What's the point of sincerity or mutual affection? Can those things fill you up or keep you full?

She coveted Fan Tong because he was a scholar, so it was impossible for Fan Tong not to covet her dowry.