Chapter 631 - 633: An Order to Leave

Chapter 631: Chapter 633: An Order to Leave

Li Cuicui didn’t want to look at this eyesore of a daughter, so she immediately ordered her to leave.

But if Gu Yuanfeng had any sense, she wouldn’t have brought this up today, and she certainly wasn’t about to leave now. "What’s the big deal about raising one child? Besides, they wouldn’t even have to do it themselves. Look at the two children over at our younger sister-in-law’s. Aren’t they being cared for by servants?"

’If my own children could enjoy that kind of treatment,’ she thought, ’they would be living in luxury.’

’We’re all children and grandchildren of the same parents. Why is there such a huge difference?’

Jin Qianqian knew that if she didn’t make herself perfectly clear today, this would only lead to more trouble later.

"I can tell you my position right now. Not just now, but in the future as well, I have absolutely no interest in raising other people’s children.

"If you can have them, you can raise them. Trying to foist them on me is out of the question."

"Jin Qianqian, your behavior is unbecoming of a virtuous wife!" Gu Yuanfeng suddenly shot to her feet, pointing an accusing finger at her.

This confirmed it for Jin Qianqian. ’Gu Yuanfeng must have been put up to this by someone,’ she thought. ’To think she’d even stoop to an accusation like being unvirtuous.’

The expressions of the other Gu women changed. ’What has gotten into Gu Yuanfeng today?’ they wondered. ’Is she trying to make an enemy for life?’

Li Cuicui was the first to react. "Shut your mouth! This is a matter for the Gu family. What right does a daughter who married out have to come here and point fingers?"

"I am her mother-in-law, and I haven’t said a word, yet you’re trying to play master of this house."

"Let me make one thing clear today. Jin Qianqian is a virtuous and proper wife. She has continued the Gu family line and is a great benefactor to our family. Anyone who dares to give her trouble is committing a great act of unfilial piety!"

The Gu family’s sisters-in-law no longer dared to remain seated. They all rose to their feet, glaring at Gu Yuanfeng.

When it came to this sister-in-law of questionable repute, their position was unanimous.

’If she dares to falsely accuse Jin Qianqian today, what’s to stop her from doing the same to us in the future?’

Gu Yuanfeng snapped back to her senses, but even if she wanted to, it was impossible to take back her words. "...Mother, I wasn’t wrong. We’re all family. What’s wrong with helping out the younger generation?"

"Besides, my children call her Aunt. If she were truly as virtuous as you say, she wouldn’t have refused so bluntly."

"She clearly doesn’t have our family’s best interests at heart. She’s selfish and only looking out for herself."

Jin Qianqian didn’t even want to look at her, turning instead to Li Cuicui.

Li Cuicui gave Jin Qianqian a reassuring smile, but her eyes turned sharp as daggers when she faced Gu Yuanfeng. "What is it now? A daughter married out, a ’waste of money’ as you’d call it, dares to come back here and act like she’s in charge?"

"The comfortable life you lead is all thanks to the help of your Seventh Brother and his family. Otherwise, as a twice-married woman, do you think you could possibly be living so well?"

"It’s only been a few good days, and you’ve already forgotten your roots?"

"Since you don’t want to live peacefully and insist on stirring up trouble, you might as well not come back to visit in the future."

"I thought you would have matured after all these years in the Shi family. It seems I was mistaken."

"A daughter married out is like water spilled on the ground. From now on, we won’t meddle in your affairs. Go back and be a wife of the Shi family."

"Mother, are you disowning me for an outsider?"

Tears immediately welled up in Gu Yuanfeng’s eyes. "I’m your own flesh and blood! How can you side with her instead of me?"

Li Cuicui stared at her, her expression frigid. "She is a daughter-in-law of the Gu family. You are a daughter-in-law of the Shi family. I know perfectly well who is family and who is not."

"Yet you, after all these years, haven’t matured at all. You only know how to bully your own family."

"The Gu family has no place for a daughter who can’t bear to see her own kin do well."

Gu Yuanfeng never imagined her own mother would scold her so harshly in front of her sisters-in-law. She felt utterly humiliated.

"Mother, if you all can’t make the decision, then I’ll just go find Seventh Brother."

"I refuse to believe he would say no to simply feeding his own nephew."

"Go on, then," Li Cuicui said, not trying to stop her. "The clan elders happen to be there right now. Perhaps they’ll open the ancestral hall and have you struck from the family records."

Gu Yuanfeng was speechless.

She froze. The thought of her youngest brother, who was still desperately pleading to be accepted back into the clan, sent a chill down her spine.

She wanted to go and cause a scene, but she didn’t have the nerve.

She might be her mother’s own daughter, but the clan elders would always put the interests of the family first.

’The idea of them trying to persuade Gu Wenheng for the sake of a married-out daughter like her was simply impossible.’

’She might even be cast out of the clan like her youngest brother. She couldn’t begin to imagine what her life would be like then.’

The Gu family’s daughters-in-law watched Gu Yuanfeng with contempt. ’All bark and no bite,’ they thought. ’She made such an arrogant fuss, and now she can’t back down.’

Li Cuicui truly couldn’t stand the sight of her disgraceful daughter any longer. She waved a dismissive hand. "Go home now! Today is a reunion for our family; a married-out daughter has no need to be here."

That one sentence sealed Gu Yuanfeng’s fate. From now on, none of the daughters-in-law would treat her with any warmth.

But Li Cuicui had no regrets. If she had allowed Gu Yuanfeng to carry on, it would have likely exhausted the last bit of goodwill her sons had for their sister.

As long as she, the matriarch, was still alive, the Shi family would have to treat Gu Yuanfeng well.

But once she was gone, considering her sons weren’t close to Gu Yuanfeng and given Yuanfeng’s own behavior over the years, her future would likely be bleak.

Li Cuicui glanced at the two girls behind her, a headache brewing. ’I’ve already cleaned up such a huge mess for her,’ she thought. ’I can’t take on anything more.’

Feeling the old matriarch’s gaze on her, Li Chuncao clutched her younger sister’s hand tightly.

Although they didn’t lack food or clothing with their maternal grandmother, she was keenly aware that they were living on someone else’s charity.

The trouble the He Family had caused years ago, combined with having such an unreliable mother, made her live in constant fear and anxiety.

Her aunts were only polite to them out of courtesy. ’If our muddle-headed mother makes them resent us,’ she worried, ’what will my sister and I do?’

He Chuncao looked up at Gu Lehua, who stood behind Liu Liu. They were about the same age, but Gu Lehua had parents to plan her future and was already engaged to a man with a promising future.

Then she thought about her own situation and couldn’t help but feel disheartened. Even with the Gu family’s backing, the only suitors who came for someone in her position were from local wealthy families, offering matches with either sons of concubines or complete undesirables.

Seeing Gu Yuanfeng still standing there, rooted to the spot, Li Cuicui ordered Granny Song to go and escort the woman out.

Granny Song, with the help of two maids, had to practically drag Gu Yuanfeng out of the room.

Li Cuicui sighed and turned to Jin Qianqian. "Your Sixth Sister is becoming more and more unreasonable. If she gives you any more trouble, just send her to me."

"I’ll have a talk with my son-in-law later. If she tries something like this again, they won’t be welcome here anymore."

Jin Qianqian simply smiled and said nothing more.

’They are mother and daughter, after all.’ For her mother-in-law to stand so firmly on her side was something Jin Qianqian found truly precious.