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

Chapter 701 Almost Tripped Over
Soon, Tong Huaqiong learned that Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu had indeed come to Lu Zhaozhao to ask for a dowry.

To Tong Huaqiong's relief, Gu Jingzhe took the lead in bearing the pressure from the two elders, not only scolding them but also declaring that no one in the clan could covet Lu Zhaozhao's dowry.

After this battle, Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu were still worried about Gu Honglian's dowry. The Fan family was pressing them for a dowry, and the two of them hadn't slept for several days because of their worries.

The discussion between Fan Tong and Gu Honglian regarding marriage cooled down.

Gu Honglian cried like a baby.

But a few days later, the Fan family suddenly sent a matchmaker to visit again.

Grandma Gu was overjoyed, but Grandpa Gu remained indifferent, carefully considering Gu Jingzhe's words in his mind.

The reason Fan Tong proposed marriage again was not because he couldn't bear to part with Gu Honglian, but because of the relationship between Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe.

Whether or not the eldest son's wife will grant him this privilege is another matter.

Grandpa Gu decided to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Fan Tong as well.

As soon as Old Master Gu hesitated, the matchmaker from the Fan family started making even more frequent visits.

Two days later, Fan Tong's mother, Old Mrs. Fan, personally came to visit.

Grandpa Gu thought it was his provocation that had worked, but he didn't know that Gu Jingzhe had played a significant role in it.

When Gu Jingzhe met Fan Tong at Su Fuzi's place, he told Fan Tong directly that neither he nor Tong Huaqiong approved of Gu Honglian marrying Fan Tong. After all, Fan Tong had once proposed to Gu Taohua, and if word got out, everyone would speculate about the aunt and niece with the utmost malice.

Gu Jingzhe subtly hinted at Fan Tong. Tong Huaqiong had originally prepared a dowry for Gu Honglian, but given Fan Tong's poor impression of Tong Huaqiong, the dowry was temporarily put on hold.

Fan Tong was shocked by Gu Jingzhe's words.

His actions over the years have led to his being abandoned by the wealthy families of Yanguan Town.

There are indeed girls prettier than Gu Honglian whose families are willing to provide dowries, but these girls are from ordinary wealthy families, and their family backgrounds are not as promising as Gu Honglian's in the long run.

Gu Honglian herself is not pretty and her family is not well-off, but she has Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe behind her, as well as the Huang family, Lu family, Liu family and Shengjing Yao family that extend from the Gu family's main branch.

He's a scholar now; if he continues to work hard and passes the provincial examination, and with the help of the eldest branch of the Gu family, his future will be bright.

He simply didn't believe that Gu Jingzhe didn't need any help in his official career.

In the Gu family, Gu Jingzhe was the only scholar. After he married Gu Honglian, he became Gu Jingzhe's uncle, and they could rely on each other.

He wanted to use his status as a scholar to manipulate Gu Honglian and force her to give up her dowry.

When Gu Jingzhe got married, Lu Zhaozhao's dowry was incredibly tempting.

If the Gu family could be forced to provide a dowry like Lu Zhaozhao's, he would not only have no worries about his future, but he could also use the dowry to study at Wanliu Academy.

I didn't expect to overdo it, and I almost messed things up.

The marriage is on the verge of falling through!
Fan Tong thought to himself that no wonder Old Master Gu had become cold towards him; Gu Jingzhe must have said something.

Right now, the one whose words carry the most weight in the Gu family is undoubtedly Gu Jingzhe.

Fan Tong broke out in a cold sweat. If he lost Gu Honglian, where else could he find a backer like Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe?

Therefore, they hurriedly sent a matchmaker to their door.

Originally, Old Madam Fan was reluctant to visit in person, much like Madam Jia, both believing their sons, who were studying, were exceptional. Especially since Fan Tong was a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations), Old Madam Fan looked down on ordinary people even more. In her eyes, her sons becoming Juren (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examinations) and Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examinations) was only a matter of time. Even if they achieved the rarest degree in history, as long as they passed the exams, there would be plenty of well-bred young ladies vying to marry them.

Grandma Fan never liked Gu Honglian from beginning to end. If it weren't for the fact that Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe were useful to her son, Gu Honglian wouldn't have even been considered a candidate for Grandma Fan's daughter-in-law.

In the end, after much persuasion from Fan Tong, Old Mrs. Fan reluctantly went to his door for the sake of her son's support and future.

The Fan family showed enough sincerity that Old Master Gu could no longer maintain his aloofness.

Gu Honglian's marriage was arranged quickly, and Fan Tong changed his previous attitude, fearing that the Gu family would back out.

Grandma Gu and Grandpa Gu were completely dumbfounded. Tong Huaqiong was equally incredulous when she learned that Gu Honglian's marriage had been arranged.

Lu Zhaozhao then told Tong Huaqiong about the confrontation between Gu Jingzhe and Fan Tong.

Tong Huaqiong couldn't stop smiling. This youngest son was really cunning, cunningly pushing the marriage between Fan Tong and Gu Honglian to the point of being a done deal.

The marriage between Fan Tong and Gu Honglian also aligns with the interests of the Gu family's eldest branch, preventing Fan Tong from having designs on Gu Taohua.

Although Gu Taohua won't take the bait like she did in the previous life, it's still annoying enough that a fly is always buzzing around in mid-air.

In this life, Fan Tong became Gu Taohua's uncle-in-law, completely severing the ill-fated relationship between Gu Taohua and Fan Tong.

After the marriage was arranged, Tong Huaqiong decided to give Gu Honglian a set of jewelry and two bolts of satin as a dowry.

As the eldest sister-in-law, this is already quite a lot.

Gu Jingzhe then decided to give Gu Honglian fifty taels of silver.

Of course, this money wasn't taken from Lu Zhaozhao or Tong Huaqiong, but rather it was money he had saved up from writing stories in the prefectural city. After his marriage, he handed all the money over to Lu Zhaozhao.

When Lu Zhaozhao learned that Gu Jingzhe was going to give her aunt fifty taels of silver as dowry, she took out the silver that Gu Jingzhe had left with her without saying a word.

Gu Jingzhe thought about it quite deeply.

It's better for Fan Tong to be his uncle than his brother-in-law.

Although Gu Honglian, as his aunt, is selfish and willful, her destructiveness pales in comparison to Gu Ruinian's. She poses no threat to the Gu family's main branch, either now or in the future.

Gu Jingzhe hoped that his aunt would live a peaceful life after marriage, and this fifty taels of silver was a guarantee for his aunt.

As for anything more, such as supporting Fan Tong in the future, don't even think about it.

Of course, if Fan Tong dares to bully Gu Honglian, Gu Jingzhe won't just stand by and do nothing.

When Chen Sufen, Liu Yue'e, and Gu Baishuang learned that Gu Honglian's marriage had been arranged, they also added to her dowry.

Chen Sufeng gave a pair of auspicious bracelets, Liu Yue'e gave a wedding dress, and Gu Baishuang gave twenty taels of silver.

Upon learning this, Madam Wei gifted Gu Honglian two pairs of shoes and socks and a dressing mirror.

Even Gu Taohua, who was still unmarried, gave Gu Honglian two gold hairpins.

Gu Honglian had thought she would have nothing after her wedding, but she was overjoyed to suddenly receive so many things.

She finally has something to hold onto.

In particular, the silver given by Gu Jingzhe and Gu Baishuang totaled seventy taels, which was quite a lot for a farming family.

Many people cannot save up seventy taels of silver in their entire lives.

Wu Na stared intently at the silver, while Gu Honglian exchanged the silver for banknotes and tucked them into her inner garment. She kept her jewelry locked in a box, wishing she could carry it with her at all times, for fear that a thief in the house might steal it from her.

Jia made sarcastic remarks from the side, saying that Yin Yang Tong Huaqiong was so rich, yet she was unwilling to give Gu Honglian a dowry.

"My sister-in-law's whole family gave me dowry gifts, what about yours, second sister-in-law?"

Gu Honglian has been thinking a lot these past few days.

Although she was disappointed by the gift her sister-in-law gave her, she decided to keep her disappointment to herself and not show it.

Grandma Fan's visit made her realize that no matter how cold her sister-in-law's attitude was towards her, Tong Huaqiong was her sister-in-law for a day, and she would rely on her for a day. After the marriage, the Fan family's attitude towards her would not be too bad.

There was also her nephew, Gu Jingzhe, who, despite being annoyed that she asked Lu Zhaozhao for a dowry, still gave her fifty taels of silver out of consideration for their aunt-nephew relationship.

Therefore, Gu Honglian became angry when she heard that Jia was trying to incite her hatred towards Tong Huaqiong.