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

Chapter 709 This sister-in-law is a bit difficult to deal with
Gu Honglian sat in the room, her face covered in makeup by the matchmaker.

Because she is very dark-skinned, the heavy makeup on her face made her look somewhat frightening when she smiled.

"Sister-in-law," Gu Honglian greeted her respectfully, smiling happily.

"Now that you're married and in the Fan family, don't be willful all the time. Live a good life and be careful," Tong Huaqiong advised Gu Honglian.

Because it was Gu Honglian's wedding day, Tong Huaqiong was unusually gentle with her.

Gu Honglian was flattered and nodded, saying, "I know."

Grandma Gu wiped away her tears.

She was truly reluctant to let her youngest daughter get married.

"The groom is here."

Man'er and the other children called out as they rushed into the house to deliver the message.

The matchmaker placed the veil over Gu Honglian's head.

Everyone crowded at the door to see the groom, Fan Tong, who was dressed in his wedding attire.

The young men in the clan didn't make things difficult for him because he was a scholar, and quickly let the groom and his party into the house.

A woman with high cheekbones entered the room and her eyes darted around. When she saw the trunks behind Honglian, she curled her lip and said, "Isn't it said that the bride's sister-in-law is very wealthy? How come she only brought such a small dowry?"

The one who said this was Fan Tong's sister-in-law, who had come with him to the marriage ceremony; she was clearly a troublemaker.

Gu Honglian's dowry was not much, consisting of three chests carried in total.

It was nothing more than ordinary shoes and socks, as well as daily necessities such as washbasins and chamber pots.

Grandma Gu and Grandpa Gu wanted to buy her more things, but they were short of money and couldn't afford it.

The gold jewelry given to Gu Honglian by Tong Huaqiong, Chen Sufeng, Gu Taohua, and others was kept in a close-fitting box by Gu Honglian, and the silver was exchanged for banknotes and hidden in her wedding dress.

These are her savings, and she won't touch them easily.

The woman's eyes continued to dart around, and she clicked her tongue and sighed. Making trouble at the bride's house was clearly a disgrace to the Gu family.

Gu Baishuang couldn't help but say, "What does your vast wealth have to do with you? We didn't know that you, sister-in-law, could be eyeing your sister-in-law's dowry. Could it be that your Fan family is so poor that you can't even afford to eat, and you're just waiting to escape poverty by having your sister-in-law come into the family?"

These words caused the Gu family wives to glare angrily at Sister-in-law Fan Tong, and several of the more shrewish wives had already started cursing.

People aren't doing this because they like Gu Honglian, nor are they trying to support her. It's because the family is united. As a daughter of the Gu family, Gu Honglian was bullied by her husband's family on her wedding day. If she doesn't fight back, outsiders will think that the Gu family's daughters are easy to bully.

The eldest sister-in-law of the Fan family was speechless after being rebuked. She realized that this was her sister-in-law's territory, and she naturally couldn't win the argument.

However, once her sister-in-law marries into the family, she will have plenty of ways to deal with her.

As the eldest sister-in-law, she was like a mother to Fan Tong, whom she had watched grow up. In her heart, Fan Tong was no different from a son.

Fan Tong had assumed that Gu Honglian would bring a large dowry into the Fan family, and she was just waiting to relax and enjoy it. However, a few days ago, Fan Tong inquired and learned that the dowry had been reduced. She couldn't swallow this insult and wanted to embarrass Gu Honglian during the wedding procession.

The Gu family, however, is not to be trifled with.

"My sister-in-law has a straightforward personality, please don't take offense." Fan Tong was dissatisfied to see so many people criticizing his sister-in-law, feeling that the Gu family was bullying him. Seeing Tong Huaqiong present, he had no choice but to apologize to everyone.

"If you try to cover up your wickedness and loose tongue with your straightforward nature, Uncle-in-law, you'll be talked about so much today that you won't be able to leave this house." Madam Wei covered her mouth and laughed.

Gu Honglian's eyes flickered slightly beneath the veil.

She had heard of Fan Tong's sister-in-law, but had never met her.

Fan Tong's sister-in-law was the best person he ever knew, cheerful and kind, even better to him than his own son. But now she seems more difficult to deal with than Old Mrs. Fan.

She had met Old Mrs. Fan before; she was not a easy person to get along with.

Besides Fan's eldest sister-in-law and Old Mrs. Fan, Fan Tong also has three older sisters, so she will have five mothers-in-law in the future.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

She optimistically thought that things would be fine once the family separated.

The family separated and Fan Tong lived their lives behind closed doors, as long as the mothers-in-law above them were satisfied with the status quo. "Alright, alright, don't delay the auspicious time," Old Madam Gu stepped in to smooth things over.

She was unhappy with Fan Tong's sister-in-law's rude remarks. Normally, she would have scolded her for being so direct, but she didn't want to cause any trouble on her daughter's big day and miss the auspicious time.

She was also worried that if she vented her anger, she would incur the wrath of the Fan family, and that her daughter would be bullied when she married into her husband's family.

As the auspicious hour was announced, Gu Honglian, wearing a veil and red shoes, went out.

As Gu Honglian was put into the sedan chair, Old Madam Gu's tears never stopped, and Old Master Gu was also heartbroken.

During the banquet, when the guests talked about Gu Honglian's marriage, someone, under the guise of concern, inquired about Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua's marriage.

Tong Huaqiong was extremely annoyed.

Fortunately, Gu Taohua was sent to Shengjing. It must be said that in this era, it was indeed unusual for Gu Taohua to be unmarried at her age in Qinghewan.

Three days later, Gu Honglian returned to her parents' home.

Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

It's obvious she's been mistreated at her in-laws' house.

Grandma Gu was heartbroken when she saw it.

Fan Tong was awkwardly called over by Grandpa Gu.

Surprisingly, both Jia and Wu Na, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, were in a better mood. Gu Honglian was so favored in the Gu family's old house that the old lady of the Gu family always thought of her first when it came to good things. She usually spoke with a sharp tongue, and she deserved to be bullied in her husband's family.

"Honglian, what's wrong? Did Fan Tong bully you?" Old Mrs. Gu pulled Gu Honglian into the house to ask.

Gu Honglian lowered her head and kept wiping away her tears.

"Speak up! Was it that old hag or Sister-in-law Fan who bullied you?"

Grandma Gu had a gut feeling that Fan Tong wouldn't openly bully Gu Honglian.

Fan Tong still wants to rely on Gu Jingzhe to achieve great success.

Gu Honglian burst into tears.

Grandma Gu was right; Grandma Fan, along with her eldest sister-in-law and sister-in-law, were bullying Gu Honglian.

They bullied Gu Honglian so much that she couldn't say a word.

Under Grandma Gu's persistent questioning, Gu Honglian stammered out her story.

On the night she married into the Fan family, while she was pouring her heart out to Fan Tong, Fan's eldest sister-in-law suddenly experienced chest pains and screamed as if she were about to die. Fan Tong had no choice but to go out and make a decision.

They called a doctor, inquired about the illness, and made a ruckus until very late, leaving Gu Honglian alone in the bridal chamber.

Fan Tong did not return until dawn. Gu Honglian secretly shed tears and only fell asleep when the rooster crowed.

When I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.

Gu Honglian was thinking about serving tea to her mother-in-law, so she hurriedly got up, washed up, and went to serve her tea.

The mother-in-law stared at her red, tear-filled eyes and scolded Gu Honglian in front of all the sisters-in-law in the clan for being unfaithful and starving her husband. Gu Honglian had never been treated like this before, and she burst into tears on the spot.

Before Old Mrs. Fan could even react, Sister-in-law Fan had her attack.

She clutched her chest and cried her heart out.

She explained that she had been married into the Fan family for many years and had raised Fan Tong as her son. She had finally managed to find Fan Tong a wife, but unfortunately, she was unwell and had a heart attack, which caused Fan Tong to neglect his new wife and make her unhappy.

She said it was all her fault for being physically weak, which caused her mother-in-law to suffer as well.

He kept claiming to take the blame upon himself, but he openly and secretly condemned Gu Honglian for being heartless and ungrateful, showing no concern for her sister-in-law's illness, only caring about monopolizing Fan Tong, and directly accusing Gu Honglian of being unfilial.

Although there was infighting in the Gu family, Gu Honglian, being a young woman, didn't need to get deeply involved, as she was protected by Old Madam Gu.

Gu Honglian had no way to express her grievances, and was disgusted by Fan's eldest sister-in-law, who splashed tea on her on the spot.