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

Chapter 710 Falling into a Den of Tigers and Wolves

Gu Honglian spilled her tea all over the ground.

Sister-in-law Fan covered her chest and apologized to the clansmen, saying that Gu Honglian had been spoiled since childhood in the Gu family, and it was no wonder that Gu Honglian was angry when Fan Tong went to ask a doctor for her.

After all, it's understandable that a new bride's heart and soul are completely devoted to her husband.

As she spoke, she asked Gu Honglian to forgive her.

Gu Honglian was furious when she heard Fan's sister-in-law's distorted and distorted words.

She couldn't tell everyone that she and Fan Tong hadn't even taken their clothes off when they were called away, and that she had slept in her clothes all night.

She's too proud to say that.

As a result, Gu Honglian hurriedly served tea while tears streamed down her face.

The villagers' impression of Gu Honglian worsened.

They felt that she was inconsiderate and disrespectful to her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

“My sister-in-law is even more of a troublemaker than my mother-in-law. She’s an old woman, but she’s pretending to be sick like Xi Shi, clutching her chest. She called Fan Tong away, and Fan Tong went to get a doctor to stay with her all night. Shouldn’t I cry because I feel so wronged?”

“I don’t know how I offended her. She’s deliberately trying to mess with me. Now everyone in the clan thinks I’m disrespectful to my sister-in-law and unfilial to my mother-in-law.”

Gu Honglian finally couldn't hold back anymore and started crying and sobbing in front of Old Madam Gu.

"Why did your sister-in-law bully you? It's because on your wedding day she was being mean and said your dowry was too small, which made Bai Shuang and the other wives in the clan feel ashamed. She was so angry that she deliberately made things difficult for you."

Grandma Gu realized that she had grasped the crux of the problem.

She originally wanted to say that Gu Baishuang was meddling, but then she thought that her granddaughter was just standing up for her daughter, so she didn't scold Gu Baishuang.

"You wretch. Although it's said that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother, you can't really treat Fan Tong like a son. She's deliberately trying to punish you because she's afraid you'll win your mother-in-law's favor, so she's doing this to you," said Old Mrs. Gu. "You should be more submissive to your mother-in-law. As long as you win her favor, you won't be afraid of your sister-in-law."

Mentioning her mother-in-law, Gu Honglian cried even more bitterly.

Grandma Gu misunderstood. Sister-in-law Fan wasn't trying to win over her mother-in-law's favor with Gu Honglian at all; rather, she seemed to be vying for Fan Tong's affections.

Gu Honglian initially thought the same thing.

For the past three days, she has been trying to please her mother-in-law, but her mother-in-law has been giving her the cold shoulder.

Whenever she and Fan Tong were alone together, her mother-in-law would scold Fan Tong from behind the wall, saying that he had lost his learning after getting married.

Finally, he directly berated Gu Honglian for being unable to live without a man, saying that she had drained Fan Tong of his energy, so how could he have the energy to study and pass the imperial examinations? He even claimed that if Fan Tong failed the imperial examinations next year, it would all be Gu Honglian's fault.

"You're telling me my mother-in-law isn't just deliberately picking a fight? My husband has been trying to pass the imperial examinations for three years without success, how can you blame me?" Gu Honglian said, feeling very wronged.

She only mentioned that Gu Jingzhe passed the exam on his first try, which made Old Madam Fan even more furious, and she scolded Gu Honglian for looking down on people.

The eldest sister-in-law from the same village visits the Fan family eight hundred times a day.

The eldest sister-in-law treated Fan Tong even better than the eldest sister-in-law, bringing her delicious food every meal. Gu Honglian thought that the eldest sister-in-law was a sensible person who would support her.

As a result, her sister-in-law kept scrutinizing Fan Tong's eyes, saying that his dark circles were a bit heavy, and directly asked Gu Honglian what time she went to bed last night and how many times she washed her face.

Gu Honglian blushed deeply and stammered, too embarrassed to speak.

In the evening, her mother-in-law called Gu Honglian over to do needlework. Gu Honglian had never done needlework at home before and was not good at it at all.

She was lectured by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who sent her to serve the eldest sister-in-law of the Gu family. They said that the eldest sister-in-law of the Gu family was busy with her marriage and her heart was aching. It was not appropriate for Fan Tong, a younger brother-in-law, to serve his sister-in-law. It would be more appropriate for her to go.

"Did you go or not?" Old Mrs. Gu was heartbroken and said angrily, "The Fan family making their newlywed daughter-in-law take care of my sister-in-law is really like stabbing her in the butt with a knife." No matter how poor the family was, her own daughter had never suffered the hardship of serving others.

Gu Honglian said, "I didn't go."

This further angered Old Mrs. Fan and her eldest sister-in-law.

Gu Honglian realized that her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and husband's older sister were ganging up on her.

She was too embarrassed to tell Grandma Gu that Sister-in-law Fan was eavesdropping, and if she made a little noise, Grandma Fan would point at her face the next day and say that she was starving and trying to drain Fan Tong dry.

As a result, she had to consummate her marriage with Fan Tong twice in the past three days, and one of those times was even interrupted.

They swallowed it whole without tasting it, and they didn't even know if Fan Tong was up to the task.

Three women make a drama, and Gu Honglian's days have been a living hell for the past three days.

She felt that the title of "scholar's wife" wasn't all that great.

Moreover, the scene where Wu Na was forced to give away her dowry by the Gu family also played out in her life.

The three men pressured her to hand over her dowry.

However, Gu Honglian withstood the pressure and ultimately did not take out the jewelry and silver.

"Isn't Fan Tong on your side?" Old Mrs. Gu asked.

Gu Honglian said, "How could he side with me? One is his mother, one is his sister-in-law, and one is his elder sister. He just said one word for me, and my mother-in-law threw a tantrum, saying that he had forgotten his mother after marrying a wife."

She cried to Fan Tong, who told her to be patient, saying that every daughter-in-law eventually becomes a mother-in-law.

His widowed mother raised him with great difficulty, his eldest sister took care of him from childhood with great difficulty, and his sister-in-law also received care from his eldest sister with great difficulty.

Anyway, no one has it easy except for Gu Honglian.

The more Gu Honglian cried, the more Fan Tong accused her of being petty and intolerant. He said that her mother, sister-in-law, and elder sister were not bad people; they were just too concerned about him and worried that he would become addicted to women, which is why they spoke so harshly. He added that Gu Honglian couldn't stand it because she had been spoiled at home since childhood, and told her not to take it to heart and to be more magnanimous.

Gu Honglian felt exhausted just thinking about it.

What kind of fate does she have to run into such a family?

She thought she would become a scholar's wife after marrying into the family, but she never expected to fall into a den of wolves and tigers.

How could she possibly defeat three tigresses by herself?

It's impossible for her to get a divorce. Firstly, they just got married, and secondly, she doesn't want to be laughed at.

Now the whole village knows she has become a scholar's wife. When she returned to her parents' home in Qinghewan, she applied heavy rouge to her face in order to cover up the redness and swelling at the corners of her eyes.

"Although it's said that a woman should follow her husband wherever he goes, you can't be bullied like this. I'll have a good talk with my son-in-law later." Old Mrs. Gu was so angry that she was trembling all over.

Grandpa Gu was talking to Fan Tong when Grandma Gu called him over. Grandma Gu recounted Gu Honglian's experiences at the Fan family over the past three days, and Grandpa Gu's face darkened.

During the meal, the two elders brought up the matter. Fan Tong apologized on the surface but felt that Gu Honglian was willful and meddlesome. Since she married into the Fan family, she was a member of the Fan family. How could she bring up Fan family matters in the Gu family? Wasn't that a slap in his face?
His mother and sister-in-law were only doing this because they cared about him, so why didn't Gu Honglian understand?

But considering that he would need Gu Jingzhe and Tong Huaqiong's resources in the future, he assured Grandpa and Grandma Gu that Gu Honglian would not be wronged.

With their son-in-law making such a promise, Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu had no better options; they couldn't possibly let their daughter divorce so soon after getting married.

Grandpa Gu felt a pang of sadness as he watched Gu Ruinian eat with his head down. If Gu Ruinian had studied hard enough, the Fan family wouldn't have dared to bully Gu Honglian so soon after their marriage.

Grandpa Gu sighed, lamenting that his grandson, who stayed at home, was unreliable. He wished Gu Jingzhe hadn't gone to Shengjing; if he had swallowed his pride and begged Gu Jingzhe, he could have gone to support Gu Honglian, and the Fan family wouldn't have dared to go too far.