Free Web NovelChapter 626: Chapter 626: A Match Made in Hell
Tong Zhaodi didn’t care about Wu Na’s sour face.
She said, "Your brother came to my house, and my parents got Tong Pandi drunk. Then they put Tong Pandi and your brother in the same bed, and Tong Zhijie brought the whole village to watch. Just like that, whether Tong Pandi wanted to marry or not, she had to."
Wu Na’s face turned pale, and she said, "You want me to end up like Tong Pandi? Embarrassed and exposed in front of others, I’d rather die."
Tong Zhaodi said, "How could I make you end up like Tong Pandi? I’m just using her as an example to show you what women care about the most—reputation. As long as you use reputation as leverage, Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu have to agree to you marrying into the Gu Family."
Wu Na thought for a moment and said, "So what should I do?"
Tong Zhaodi said, "You just want to marry Gu Ruinian. You’re going to be his sooner or later, so it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit sooner... Rolling in the haystack, you understand?"
Wu Na hesitated.
Tong Zhaodi added fuel to the fire and said, "I’ve inquired in Qinghe Bay, and Gu Youtian plans to have Gu Ruinian marry in. Think about it; in our entire Pingchuan, you can count the men willing to marry in on one hand. If you hesitate, Gu Ruinian might really go through with it."
"Anyway, if you’re determined not to marry anyone but Gu Ruinian, whether you roll in the haystack sooner or later, what’s the difference?"
Then Tong Zhaodi broke it down and patiently explained to Wu Na, ultimately convincing her to agree.
After that, under the cover of Tong Zhaodi, Wu Na visited Qinghe Bay twice more.
In the twelfth lunar month, Tong Huaqiong received a wedding invitation from the old house, only then realizing that Gu Ruinian was getting married.
"Who would still want to marry Gu Ruinian?"
Tong Huaqiong was at the Weaving Workshop, watching the weaver batik.
Suddenly getting the news that Gu Ruinian was getting married, she realized she hadn’t been keeping up with news from the old house for a while.
She thought, it must be another unfortunate Zhao Di picking up Gu Ruinian’s mess.
"It’s Wu Na."
Her niece-in-law, Mrs. Wei, who had become a full-time worker at the Weaving Workshop, shook her head and sighed.
Wu Na?
Tong Pandi’s former sister-in-law.
What a twist of fate.
Tong Huaqiong blurted out, "Wu Na isn’t an easy target, and Gu Ruinian is full of schemes. These two are really a perfect match."
Mrs. Wei said, "Aunt, you probably don’t know yet. Wu Na went to Qinghe Bay to see Ruinian three times, and then she got pregnant. Wu Ren took people to the house to make a scene. If it weren’t for my mother-in-law stopping him desperately, they would’ve broken Ruinian’s other leg too..."
Mrs. Wei had followed this gossip story from start to finish.
She was glad her family had divided the property; otherwise, they would’ve been implicated, not to mention the expenses for the younger brother-in-law’s wedding feast.
Mr. Gu really wanted to ask her and Gu Fengnian for help, but this time Gu Fengnian pushed back.
Just like Mrs. Wei was gossiping, Tong Zhaodi covered for Wu Na, and people like Mrs. Jia were happy to see it happen. In no time, Wu Na and Gu Ruinian had rolled in the haystack, and Wu Na got pregnant.
When Wu Ren learned that Wu Na had gone to Qinghe Bay to see Gu Ruinian, if Wu Musheng hadn’t already been divorced once, he would’ve taken charge and kicked out the instigator, Tong Zhaodi.
Once the affair was exposed, Wu Ren locked Wu Na up and took a group to the Gu old house to cause trouble.
Gu Ruinian uncharacteristically said nothing.
The Wu Family started arranging a marriage for Wu Na and proposed a match in Pingchuan. On the betrothal day, Wu Na fainted, and the doctor discovered she was pregnant.
The marriage fell through, and the Wu Family panicked.
The groom’s family couldn’t stomach becoming an unwitting parent and started spreading the news as soon as they left the Wu Family’s door. The entire Black Dragon Pond knew Wu Na was pregnant.
Frightened, Wu Ren hurried overnight to Gu’s old house to negotiate. At this time, Gu Youtian and Mrs. Jia refused to let Wu Na marry Gu Ruinian.
In the end, the Wu Family compromised, offering Wu Na ten acres of good land and five hundred taels of silver as dowry before Gu Youtian agreed to the marriage.
The Wu Family suffered a huge silent loss and just had to bear it, fearing that the Gu Family might back out of the marriage at any moment.
Gu Ruinian did not say a word from start to finish.
When Wu Na found out she could marry Gu Ruinian, she cried tears of joy. Following Gu Ruinian’s instructions, she asked Wu Ren for extra property and dowry, threatening never to return to her maiden home after marriage if not given, enraging Wu Ren and his wife to the point where they wished Wu Na would turn into a piece of roast pork.
Finally, under Tong Zhaodi’s provocation, a heartbroken Wu Ren decided not to give the five hundred taels of dowry, only the ten acres of land.
Of course, they kept this a secret from Wu Na and the Gu Family.
The plan was to give the Gu Family a surprise after the marriage.
Mrs. Wei was naturally unaware that the Wu Family had cut down on the dowry and said to Tong Huaqiong, "I didn’t expect Wu Na to be so confused. With the dowry the Wu Family gave her, who wouldn’t be a better match than marrying the second brother? In the end, it’s all the second brother’s scheming. He obviously didn’t like the girl, yet he schemed against her. Just wait, when Wu Na comes to her senses after marrying in, there will be quite a scene."
She continued, "Now the whole family is praising the second brother, making a girl give ten acres of land and five hundred taels of dowry for nothing. Isn’t he the family’s hero? Even Grandma has been treating him nicely, boasting every now and then how powerful our Ruinian is, marrying a village chief’s daughter with a five hundred tael dowry without spending a dime."
While Mrs. Wei was gossiping at the Weaving Workshop, back at the Gu Family, Grandma Gu was boasting about Gu Ruinian’s marriage to the second aunt as she passed by.
"... You all must come to the wedding banquet. Ruinian quietly got himself a good match. I didn’t expect him to end up with the village chief’s daughter from Black Dragon Pond, and without spending a cent, she’s determined to marry no one but Ruinian. The village chief is affluent and dotes on his daughter, giving ten acres of good land and five hundred taels of silver as dowry."
Grandma Gu had it all figured out; two acres of the land would be given to Gu Honglian as a dowry, two hundred taels given to Gu Youtian as capital, and the remaining three hundred taels were enough for the family’s living expenses.
Even if Wu Na had a bad temper, Gu Ruinian could handle her.
Even if Wu Na was a bit ugly, it didn’t matter because she wasn’t a bride bought with money, so there wasn’t much to complain about.
The second aunt of the Gu Family couldn’t believe anyone would be so foolish as to be Gu Ruinian’s sucker, so she kindly reminded Grandma Gu and others not to be deceived.
Grandma Gu said, "The girl’s father is Wu Ren, the village chief of Black Dragon Pond. He and Youtian used to do business together. Although they split up later, that doesn’t affect the girl’s affection for Ruinian. The girl has a small waist and broad hips, showing she can birth sons. I think she’s much better than that girl Xu Xinghua."
Grandma Gu praised Wu Na while not missing the chance to put Xu Xinghua down.
She really wanted to go to the Xu Family’s door to show off, saying her grandson didn’t care about marrying into a family, as the village chief’s daughter was bringing a dowry willingly.
Second Aunt of the Gu Family saw her sister-in-law’s jubilant face and twitched.
The village chief of Black Dragon Pond, Wu Ren, wasn’t he Tong Pandi’s former in-law?
A family that could force a daughter-in-law to divorce, what kind of good family could that be?
She had heard that Tong Pandi’s former sister-in-law was difficult to deal with.
Second Aunt of the Gu Family seemed to see a future where every day at the Gu Family’s old house would be chaos.
But this had nothing to do with her. Gu Ruinian wasn’t a good person and was targeting a girl from a good family.
Gu Ruinian sat in the room, listening to Grandma Gu boasting to every passerby about his marriage, with an indescribable sense of satisfaction in his heart.
