Free Web NovelChapter 628: Chapter 628: It’s Definitely Jealousy
Mrs. Jia looked smug.
She held her chin up, with the expression of "Look at how capable my son is."
The whole room felt embarrassed for Mrs. Jia.
Is an unwed daughter-in-law becoming pregnant a good thing?
And yet she was bragging about it.
Any family with a sense of shame would criticize Gu Ruinian behind his back.
No wonder the village chief of Black Dragon Pond was willing to let his daughter marry Gu Ruinian; it turned out Gu Ruinian had calculated against the girl.
It’s likely that Mrs. Jia did her part in it too.
Tong Huaqiong looked at Mrs. Jia’s smug face and silently cursed her as a fool.
Thinking that such claims would raise Rui Nian’s value, little did she know how many people were laughing at them.
Old Lady Ding sneered, "My grandson doesn’t have the ability to get a girl pregnant out of wedlock, and even if he did, I’d break his legs. What kind of family allows such things to happen? Is this something to be proud of?"
"You also have daughters. How would you feel if others schemed against your daughter like this?"
Mrs. Jia didn’t get the admiration she expected, but instead faced contemptuous looks and a lecture.
She naturally felt indignant.
Jealousy, it must be jealousy.
Mrs. Jia gritted her teeth and argued, "It takes two to tango. If the girl wasn’t pushing for it, how could our Rui Nian make her pregnant? Aunt, you didn’t see how Rui Nian’s wife tried multiple times to get into our home, even threatening to sever ties with her family. What was our Rui Nian supposed to do?"
The crowd was speechless once again.
Mrs. Wei’s face turned beet red, thinking how marrying into such a shameless family was a stroke of bad luck, and wondering if people would think she was tricked into it the same way.
Mrs. Wei said, "Stop talking, the bride is arriving soon."
It was too embarrassing.
Mrs. Wei decided that no matter what, she would build a house outside next spring to avoid getting entangled with her in-laws.
At this moment, firecrackers went off outside, and the crowd became lively.
"The bride has arrived."
"The bride has arrived."
The shouts of children could be heard.
Everyone stood up, eagerly coming out to see the newlyweds.
A large crowd surrounded Gu Ruinian, who was riding a tall horse borrowed from Tong Huaqiong’s family.
Tong Huaqiong saw Gu Ruinian dressed in a red groom’s outfit, with a large flower made of ribbon tied to his chest. His face showed little joy, as if his mind was elsewhere.
Mrs. Jia looked at Gu Ruinian on the horse, tears in her eyes.
Her son should have been attending the imperial exams, becoming a champion, and parading through the streets, yet now he had to settle for riding a horse to marry the village chief’s daughter.
Seeing Tong Huaqiong in the crowd, a gloom passed over Mrs. Jia’s eyes, cursing Tong Dajiao’s son to fail the imperial exams; if Gu Ruinian couldn’t parade through the streets, then her son shouldn’t be able to either.
The sedan chair stopped, and Wu Na, clad in a wedding outfit with her face covered, was led out by Gu Ruinian, the two holding a silk ribbon as they entered the upper house one after the other.
Mrs. Jia’s words had spread far and wide. Although everyone despised how the Gu family behaved, their curiosity led them to glance at the bride’s belly.
Since it was winter, it was hard to tell if she was pregnant due to the layers beneath the gown.
The sound of the wedding ceremony began.
Soon, the ceremony was over, and the bride was led into the bridal chamber.
The so-called bridal chamber was merely a partitioned section of the Gu family’s upper house.
The Gu family did not have the silver to build a new house, nor did they plan to separate Gu Ruinian and Wu Na after marriage.
When discussing the marriage, Wu Ren had come to the Gu family, and upon seeing the so-called bridal chamber, he was so furious he almost had a heart attack, wanting to call off the marriage on the spot.
But Wu Na wanted to get married, insisting she’d marry Gu Ruinian even if they had to sleep under a bridge.
Additionally, Wu Na was already pregnant, leaving the Wu family no choice but to agree to the Gu family’s arrangements with hatred.
When Tong Huaqiong heard Mrs. Wei mention this incident, she shook her head, thinking that a girl who grows up spoiled would be prone to romantic fantasies. Wu Na had never faced life’s hardships, which was why she rushed into marriage. Once she experiences hardships after marriage, she will realize how terribly wrong she was.
After the ceremony, the banquet began.
One must admit that Gu Youtian spared no expense for his son’s wedding, with fat chickens and fish and fresh pork, beef, and mutton expertly cooked by the chefs from Fengle Building, making the food delicious and enticing.
The sumptuous feast filled everyone’s stomachs.
During the feast, people began discussing the bride’s dowry.
Liu Yueer’s mother, Mrs. Zhao, gossiped with Tong Huaqiong, lowering her voice, "Isn’t it said that Wu Lizheng dotes on his daughter, and her dowry is very generous? Why are there only five cases of dowry? Before the feast, I quietly went to have a look. The five cases looked full, but there wasn’t much inside. The satin included didn’t even look new. Didn’t they say there were ten acres of good land and five hundred taels of silver? Where are they?"
Tong Huaqiong said, "Those five cases of dowry are probably just what’s visible on the surface. They wouldn’t put the deeds and silver inside."
Mrs. Zhao thought for a moment and nodded, "That makes sense. Families that care for their daughters would keep the deeds and silver in their daughter’s hands. If the land and silver fell into your family’s second house, the bride would probably be cleaned out."
Tong Huaqiong thought differently.
She suspected that the ten acres of land and five hundred taels of silver were already gone.
She had dealings with Wu Ren before, knowing he wasn’t a kind person and wouldn’t willingly let Gu Youtian corner him.
If his daughter was determined to marry against his wishes, then it would be best to send her off with nothing.
Moreover, the Wu family had just married the cheap niece, Tong Zhaodi, and with Tong Zhaodi’s abilities, she likely put on eye drops for the Wu family, persuading Wu Ren not to give Wu Na a dowry.
Tong Huaqiong guessed correctly; Wu Ren hadn’t given Wu Na five hundred taels of silver or ten acres of good land for her dowry. All the dowry was included in those five cases.
But the bride, Wu Na, and the Gu family were still unaware.
Wu Na was lost in the happiness of marrying her beloved.
After the wedding ceremony, she sat alone in the bridal chamber.
After the children watching the excitement dispersed, through the slit of her bridal veil, Wu Na saw the walls patched with mud and straw, and a table set beneath the windowsill. If it weren’t for the red festive characters on the wall and the pair of red candles on the table, it wouldn’t appear to be a bridal chamber at all.
Wu Na’s heart sank.
She then thought it was okay; after a few days, she would convince Gu Ruinian for them to live separately. With her parents’ dowry of ten acres of good land and five hundred taels of silver, they could live well.
She certainly didn’t want to be tied to living with Mr. Gu, Gu Youtian, and others who could only drag her down.
Once she pacified her parents’ anger, she would nag them to get Gu Ruinian’s leg treated; even if the leg couldn’t be healed, then support Gu Ruinian to study. She wasn’t greedy; passing the exam to become a scholar would be good enough.
After all, scholars are not officials, and there are no physical requirements.
If he became a scholar, they could receive silver and grain from the court, along with subsidies from her family. She was sure a comfortable life was in store for her and her husband.
The more Wu Na thought about it, the happier she became.
The lively sounds of the banquet outside reached her ears, and Wu Na felt a bit hungry.
New brides generally don’t eat when they leave their home, and Wu Na was no exception.
As Wu Na sat for a while, her bottom started to ache from the hard seat. Due to insufficient charcoal in the room, she grew colder and colder.
Patting her belly, Wu Na started to have grievances against her in-laws, knowing well she was carrying the Gu family baby yet they didn’t warm the room enough.
She would need to persuade Gu Ruinian to live separately tonight.
Finally, Gu Ruinian came in.
Wu Na sniffed; clearly, her husband had drunk too much.
"Lift the veil quickly."
"Time for the wedding toast."
The onlookers who followed Gu Ruinian in egged on.
The wedding broker handed a rod to Gu Ruinian, and he lifted the bride’s veil.
The two locked eyes.
Wu Na was blushing with shyness.
Gu Ruinian forced a smile on his face, having no interest in the bride before him.
