Free Web NovelChapter 629: Chapter 629: The Villainy Must Be Done by the Wife
Revealing Wu Na’s unveiled face.
The villagers saw Wu Na’s true appearance for the first time.
The first impression was that this bride was quite dark, darker than Gu Honglian.
Gu Ruinian forced himself to drink the wedding toast with Wu Na despite feeling nauseous.
"Wishing you an early son."
The wedding broker shouted enthusiastically a few times, then chased out the onlookers and closed the door.
Wu Na was pregnant, and the couple spent their bridal night chatting.
"... I’m marrying you, not your whole family. Don’t say I’m selfish. I want us to live separately. We have ten acres of good land and five hundred silver. I’ve thought it over, we’ll rent a house in town and lease out the ten acres of land. Living with your entire family, we’ll only be poor, but if we live on our own, life will be comfortable." Wu Na shared her plans with Gu Ruinian.
Gu Ruinian thought the same.
But he couldn’t be the one to suggest it; it would be unfilial if he did.
This suggestion had to come from Wu Na to Mr. Gu and the others.
Anyway, the daughter-in-law naturally doesn’t get along with the original family. When unpleasant rumors spread, the villagers can only blame Wu Na, not Gu Ruinian.
Isn’t the role of a wife just this?
To be filial to his parents for him, to fight for his interests.
"But people outside will say we’re unfilial." Gu Ruinian was inwardly overjoyed but intentionally put on a troubled face.
This "bad guy" must be played by the wife.
Wu Na said, "What’s unfilial about this? You’ve read too much and worry too much. Didn’t your elder brother and sister-in-law separate? If you find it hard to say, I’ll say it."
Gu Ruinian smiled in the flickering candlelight, looking affectionately at Wu Na, saying, "Wouldn’t this wrong you? I really can’t bear to see you wronged. Maybe we shouldn’t separate, right after we’re married. I’m afraid people will say I forgot my mother after marrying, tarnishing your reputation."
Wu Na felt a surge of warmth from Gu Ruinian’s gaze. The words "forget your mother after marrying" made her overjoyed, and she said, "Living with your whole family is the real grievance. You are my man, so naturally, you should only think of me. Reputation is nothing; if I cared about it, would I be pregnant before marriage?"
Speaking of pregnancy, Wu Na touched her belly and said, "Now that we have a child, we must consider the child even if for nothing else. We’ll live our lives as a family of three behind closed doors."
Gu Ruinian held Wu Na with a face full of emotion, saying, "It’s hard on you, my wife. I must treat you and our child well in the future."
Wu Na laughed.
Gu Ruinian said, "By the way, have you kept your dowry list safe? It’s so hectic today with the wedding; I’m worried someone might swipe your dowry list."
Gu Ruinian was trying to get Wu Na to hand over her dowry to him.
After the wedding ceremony, Gu Ruinian had secretly rummaged through Wu Na’s five boxes of dowry, finding only fabrics, a chamber pot, a spittoon, and such, without seeing the deed for ten acres of good land and the silver notes.
It seemed the Wu Family feared the Gu Family would scheme against them, so they had Wu Na keep it on her.
Thinking of this, Gu Ruinian felt dissatisfied with Wu Ren.
Wu Na was already married to him, yet the Wu Family still guarded against him.
Although Wu Na was love-struck, she wasn’t foolish about her dowry. She caught on to Gu Ruinian’s hint but pretended not to understand, saying, "My mother hid it at the bottom of the box; I’ll find it tomorrow."
She wanted to keep her dowry in her hands; even her husband couldn’t control it.
Only by holding the dowry tightly could she control her husband.
Gu Ruinian said, "I was just asking. Naturally, your dowry is for you to handle. Once we separate and move to town, I’ll find some copying work to support you and the child."
Gu Ruinian felt a burst of anxiety; he had searched through the boxes and hadn’t seen any dowry list.
He could only steady Wu Na, waiting for her to voluntarily hand over the dowry.
Hearing Gu Ruinian’s promise, Wu Na fell asleep contentedly.
The next day, she struggled to get up early to serve tea to the elders.
At night, another snow had fallen. In the freezing weather, the brazier in the main room was insufficient. When Wu Na entered, she shivered from the cold.
While serving tea, Old Mrs. Gu was all smiles and gave Wu Na a silver hairpin, while Mrs. Jia looked at Wu Na’s belly with disdain.
How can a girl pregnant before marriage be worthy of her son?
Gu Youtian cast a glance at Mrs. Jia, implying a warning.
The implication was that she shouldn’t put on the airs of a mother-in-law just yet; first coax the daughter-in-law into handing over her dowry.
Reluctantly, Mrs. Jia took off her silver bracelet and handed it to Wu Na.
Wu Na took the silver hairpin and bracelet, her face showing displeasure; is this all a daughter-in-law gets when married here?
After all, she hadn’t even asked for a bride price.
If it weren’t for her visibly growing belly, she wouldn’t be so easy to dismiss.
However, thinking of the plan to separate, she temporarily endured it.
She would settle accounts eventually.
Mrs. Wei suppressed her nausea and gave Wu Na a piece of satin, then exchanged a few polite words with Wu Na before leaving. She still had to rush to the weaving workshop for work.
"... Today is the day to visit your family. The gifts have been prepared. It’s snowing now, making carriages difficult to hire, so we borrowed a donkey cart from the clan. Since Ruinian has mobility issues, I’ve arranged for two brothers from the clan to accompany you, to pull the cart. They’ll come over with the donkey cart after breakfast."
The day after the wedding is the day to visit the bride’s family, and Mr. Gu had already made arrangements.
Wu Na waved her hand and said, "No need to bother. It’s so cold outside. My parents said there’s no need for a visit now; we’ll go back after spring."
Mr. Gu and Gu Youtian were both taken aback. Wu Ren wasn’t someone who would disregard customs.
This could only mean he still didn’t recognize Gu Ruinian as a son-in-law, not even allowing her to visit.
But no matter how reluctant Wu Ren might be, wasn’t his daughter now married into the Gu family?
No matter how discontent Wu Ren felt about Gu family scheming against Wu Na, once a child was born, his anger would dissipate, and he would naturally acknowledge this marriage.
After all, if he didn’t acknowledge it and Wu Na had no maternal family backing, she would be easily bullied by the Gu family, and his daughter would be the one to suffer in the end.
Mr. Gu and Gu Youtian understood this point clearly.
"Granddaughter-in-law, come sit here; it’s warmer near the brazier." Old Mrs. Gu patted the seat next to her, and Wu Na went over to sit down.
As for not visiting her family, in her heart, Old Mrs. Gu approved of this.
The Wu family looked down on them; gifting those gifts to them would be a waste.
Now, not visiting saved them money.
Old Mrs. Gu’s kind attitude made Wu Na have some favorable feelings towards her.
Everyone exchanged concerns about Wu Na’s well-being. Under Gu Youtian’s indication, Mrs. Jia changed the topic, saying, "Nana, you married into the Gu family, and I will treat you as my own daughter."
Wu Na wanted to roll her eyes; please, don’t treat me as a daughter, what if you sell me?
Noticing Wu Na’s face showing impatience, Mrs. Jia felt upset, wanting to get angry, but recalling Wu Na’s dowry, she softened her tone, saying, "We were overjoyed when Ruinian married you. To make the occasion grand, we invited a master chef from Fengle Building for the banquet. Besides that, we renovated the house, had a new bed made, and bought new sheets, covers, and bedding... all quite costly."
Wu Na frowned; her mother-in-law was complaining to her right after her marriage.
Did they think she was easy to bully?
Gu Youtian coughed, pretending to scold Mrs. Jia, "Why bring up these matters at the child’s joyous occasion?"
Mrs. Jia looked troubled, saying, "Since Nana is now part of the family, there’s nothing that can’t be shared among family."
"Nana, this marriage of yours cost a lot. To give you face, the family borrowed two hundred silver for the occasion; we need to repay that."
"Whoever borrowed should repay; it’s none of my business."
Wu Na retorted bluntly.
