Chapter 797: Widowhood Is a Better Deal Than Divorce

Tong Huaqiong knew Gu Baishuang’s thoughts and did not continue to persuade her to divorce.

No matter how good the relationship is, she is ultimately a stepmother.

Some words a birth mother can say, but a stepmother cannot go too deep.

Unless she figures it out herself.

Thinking about Nie Mingyuan in the previous life, he passed away shortly after Gu Jingzhe made a name for himself on the gold list.

Calculating, there are only a few months left.

In this way, it is indeed more advantageous for Gu Baishuang to be widowed than to divorce.

Just don’t know, with the change in Gu Baishuang’s fate, will Nie Mingyuan’s fate change as well?

There are only two days left until New Year’s Eve.

Gu Jingzhe set up a desk at home to write Spring Festival couplets for his family.

Gu Jingzhe’s calligraphy is good, and his reputation has spread in a small circle in Shengjing. Besides his own couplets, the Min Family and several classmates’ families also asked him to write couplets.

Calculating, there are quite a few to write.

Lu Zhaozhao leaned against the imperial concubine couch behind him, watching Gu Jingzhe write couplets. The atmosphere was very warm and cozy.

The Su Family sent someone to deliver New Year’s gifts to Tong Huaqiong.

The New Year’s gifts were very generous, and besides the gifts, the Su Family’s steward also brought Su Shihang’s blessings.

Making a second rank court official bow his head, Tong Huaqiong believed she didn’t have that ability.

Su Shihang was just trying to please Su Chengmin.

If it weren’t for the gift delivery, Tong Huaqiong almost forgot that Su Shihang was her nominal in-law.

It’s said that after Princess Ming Yue married out, Old Mrs. Su frantically searched for aristocratic young ladies for Su Shihang, swearing to find a bride for her son whose family background and appearance wouldn’t lose to Princess Ming Yue.

Such a girl could only come from a centuries-old family or a Marquis Mansion.

So, taking advantage of the holiday season, Old Mrs. Su visited every aristocratic family and Marquis Mansion in Shengjing with overwhelming fighting spirit.

After barely a few words, she would already be talking about marriage proposals, regardless of Su Shihang being old enough to be a father to the girls.

Without exception, Old Mrs. Su was chased out.

Yet, Old Mrs. Su was still unwilling to give up, thinking that centuries-old families and Marquis Mansions looked good on the outside but were not as wealthy as the Su Family. She thought that marrying into the Su Mansion was more advantageous than marrying a family of equal status.

At least Su Shihang was truly a first-generation entrepreneur, and marrying him meant being in charge of the household finances, making her the second most important woman in the mansion after her, which was better than marrying into the same family status and serving a bunch of people.

These aristocratic families and Marquis Mansions were so troubled by Old Mrs. Su that they dared not invite the Su Mansion to any New Year’s gatherings or send them invitations, fearing that their daughters would be eyed by Old Mrs. Su.

Su Shihang was repeatedly impeached by the Imperial Censors over this, so angry that he wanted to crash into the Jinluan Palace.

He warned his mother many times not to think of marrying him a noble girl, but Old Mrs. Su simply wouldn’t listen.

Su Shihang planned to send Old Mrs. Su back to their hometown after the New Year. Hearing the news, Old Mrs. Su stubbornly threatened to hang herself.

The mother and son were in a stalemate, leaving the entire Su Mansion cold and desolate, with no festive atmosphere.

Old Mrs. Su somehow heard that Miss Lin was not dead and was sent to a family temple, and she started having ideas about arranging a marriage for Su Chengji.

In Old Mrs. Su’s understanding, if a girl is sent to a family temple on her wedding day, her purity must have been tarnished.

A tarnished young lady that others despise, the Su Family does not mind.

Su Chengji was impotent, Miss Lin was physically disabled, the two could just make a pair. By becoming in-laws, the Su and Lin Families could be bound together.

The more Old Mrs. Su thought about this idea, the better it sounded.

So she really went to the Lin Family to propose.

Mrs. Lin nearly died of anger when she heard Old Mrs. Su’s intentions at the door.

Even the manners of a well-bred young lady from a family couldn’t hold up in front of Old Mrs. Su, and she couldn’t help but burst into cursing.

Did Old Mrs. Su have the memory of a goldfish? Less than two months ago, she tried to scheme against the second Miss Lin, and because the Su and Lin Families hadn’t fallen out, did she think the Lin Family had forgiven her?

Now she pretended nothing happened and came to propose to the "deceased" Miss Lin.

She really thought the Lin Family’s young lady was a dish, free for the Su Family to pick.

Not to mention that Su Chengji was impotent; even if he were perfectly healthy, he wouldn’t be worthy of the Lin Family.

Even if the eldest Miss Lin were truly deceased, Su Chengji wouldn’t be fit to marry her memorial tablet.

Old Mrs. Su was dumbfounded by Mrs. Lin’s scolding, and as she left the Lin Mansion, she claimed that the Lin Family would rather waste a daughter than marry out to form a family alliance, and that Mrs. Lin was afraid her illegitimate daughter might marry well. She also said that Mrs. Lin lacked the grace of a noblewoman, was petty, and held grudges.

Upon hearing how Old Mrs. Su spoke ill of her, Mrs. Lin was not simply angry; she became possessed by Liu Yueer and instructed the servants to throw two buckets of water at precisely the right moment when Old Mrs. Su came and went from the Su Mansion.

When Old Mrs. Su returned, she fell flat on her face as she got off the carriage.

Being old and having brittle bones, this fall rendered half of Old Mrs. Su’s body unable to move.

She had to be carried back into the mansion to recuperate.

Old Mrs. Su had a bad temper to begin with, and lying immobile felt like a fate worse than death, especially since the maids and servants weren’t as attentive as the Lu Family, leading her to scold and hit them constantly.

When Su Chengji learned of Old Mrs. Su’s immobility, he bore a grudge against her for driving the Lu Family away. He went to her bedside with sarcastic remarks, provoking her so much that she rolled her eyes and when she woke up later, she could only drool and had lost the ability to speak.

Even then, Su Chengji wasn’t satisfied and would visit Old Mrs. Su’s room daily, under the guise of caring for her illness.

Old Mrs. Su would grab and throw whatever came to hand with her one mobile hand, cursing Su Chengji incoherently.

The grandmother and grandson turned the whole mansion upside down.

The maids and servants didn’t dare intervene.

Su Shihang was at his wit’s end and even considered bringing the Lu Family back to care for Old Mrs. Su.

The stories about the Su Family were brought to Tong Huaqiong’s home by Lu Yiner during her visits.

Lu Yiner adapted well at the pig farm with Tong Pandi; looking at the plump little pigs, Lu Yiner automatically calculated them into silver.

"Leave the work at the pig farm to them for now. Stay home and enjoy New Year’s with your parents. After the fifteenth, come back to help," Tong Huaqiong said to Lu Yiner.

With a new source of income and having her parents and siblings in Shengjing from their hometown, Lu Yiner was in high spirits.

She chatted endlessly with Tong Huaqiong.

A few days ago, Lu Yiner took her parents and siblings to Jufu Supermarket for New Year’s shopping. Tong Huaqiong met her parents and exchanged a few words, noting the complete difference between Lu Yiner’s parents and the Lu Family.

They were honest and simple, caring dearly for their daughter.

"...Though working at the pig farm isn’t easy, it’s better than serving that old hag, Old Mrs. Su. At least pigs don’t insult or beat you," Lu Yiner sighed to Tong Huaqiong.

She had served Old Mrs. Su like a maid since she was twelve.

Old Mrs. Su had countless ways of tormenting people, venting her dissatisfaction with the Lu Family on her. She made her fan all night in the summer, and sleep at the bed’s foot in the winter to tend to her needs...

After leaving the Su Family, she felt like those years had been stolen from her.

Though she lived like a maid at the Su Family, she didn’t even receive a maid’s monthly stipend and, on top of that, owed the Su Family gratitude for "raising" her.

It’s all tears when talking about it.

And there’s more to come.