Chapter 12 Lady Zhou Instructs Her Daughter-in-law_1

"Second daughter-in-law, go and call your elder sister-in-law," Lady Zhou ordered Lady He.

Lady He responded and was about to call Lady Gu, but Lian Xiuxiu hurried down from the kang.

"Mother, let me do it," said Lian Xiuxiu. Lady Zhou got angry, she had to quickly tell Lady Gu and Lian Huahua herself, she didn't trust anyone else to go.

Lady Zhou glanced at Lian Xiuxiu and snorted. Seeing that Lady Zhou did not object, Lian Xiuxiu hurriedly went to the west room.

After a while, Lian Xiuxiu came back, with Lian Huahua and Lian Duoduo supporting Lady Gu as they followed.

"Mother, elder sister-in-law is really sick, she struggled to come over when she heard you calling," Lian Xiuxiu said to Lady Zhou with a smile.

Lady Zhou paid no attention to her daughter, but a single glance at Lady Gu and she knew the score. At her age, she was not to be fooled by such petty tricks and dismissed the flattering thought.

"Mother, your daughter-in-law pays her respects," said Lady Gu, squatting down and bowing to Lady Zhou.

Lady Zhou's mood lightened slightly as she saw Lady Gu's serious salute. In the countryside, especially among one's own family, such formalities were not emphasized. Lady Gu's bow, however, was the kind of ritual practiced by the great families, which pleased Lady Zhou immensely.

Seeing Lady Zhou's face brighten up a little, Lady Gu continued to smile obsequiously, "I wanted to come over early in the morning, but my body is failing me, I am extremely dizzy. Fearing that mother would worry, I dared not tell you and thought I would wait until I felt a little better before coming over."

"Yes, grandma, mother wanted to come over in the morning to pay her respects, but she barely walked a few steps before she almost fell. We were terrified," said Lian Huahua. "Mother has been lying on the kang, persistently reciting her dutifulness as a daughter-in-law, saying that ever since grandma entered the Lian Family, our household's rules and proprieties couldn't even be matched by those of the big families in the city."

Lady Zhou's face involuntarily cleared up, moved by Lady Gu and Lian Huahua's words, which touched her heart. Turning her head to look at Lady He, Lady Zhang, and Lady Zhao, she felt that her eldest daughter-in-law indeed understood and close to her.

However, Lady Zhou had no intentions of changing her mind; rules that needed to be set still had to be established. Previously, not living together made things easy. In the future, when her eldest son became an official, she would naturally follow him, and when she lived in the same estate as Lady Gu, they would have to interact daily. It was best to train Lady Gu now to be as obedient and dare not utter a word of resistance like Lady Zhang and Lady Zhao.

Thinking this way, Lady Zhou's face clouded over again, and she ignored the pleading look Lian Xiuxiu gave her.

"You are a scholar's wife, delicate in health," Lady Zhou sneered, "as if anyone still remembers that I am the scholar's mother!"

"Mother, I..." Lady Gu, sensing that the tone was not favorable, hurriedly bent her back a little further, displaying an even more submissive posture.

"These past years, you have often lived in the town and become accustomed to freedom. I have not attended to you, as a mother-in-law. Now that you have come home, well yesterday, as soon as I sent Xiuxiu to call you this morning, you became uncomfortable. Should I move over and cook for you instead?"

Lady Gu's face turned white in an instant, with each word from Lady Zhou piercing her heart. She considered herself extremely shrewd; after entering the Lian Family, she quickly understood Old Lady Zhou's character and catered to it perfectly. At the same time, she knew how difficult Lady Zhou could be and had managed to live in town with Lian Shouren to avoid serving her mother-in-law.

Over the years, she had been tactful, neither needing to attend to Lady Zhou nor the most favored daughter-in-law in Lady Zhou's eyes.

Now, her daughter was about to marry into the Sun Family, and her husband, Lian Shouren, had good prospects for an official selection. She would soon be the wife of an official with status. Why was Lady Zhou suddenly turning her face, really trying to wring her?

Lady Gu was indeed smart; after pondering for a moment, she quickly understood. Lady Zhou was determined and wanted her to know that even if she became a madame official, Lady Zhou was still the old lady above her.

However, after so many years of living freely, was she to be controlled by her mother-in-law once she became a madame official? Lady Gu felt annoyed and froze on the spot.

"Me, this old hag, kicking the bucket, didn't serve the scholar's wife thoroughly enough, I deserve a beating!" bellowed Lady Zhou all of a sudden, raising her voice and slapping her own face with both palms.

Lian Xiuxiu, Lady Zhang, Lady He, and others hurried forward to stop her.

Lian Manman was already staring in astonishment.

Lady Gu was jolted awake, covered in a cold sweat. She knew that the imperial court placed great emphasis on filial piety. Lian Shouren's ambition to become an official, and her own status as an official's wife, could not be tainted with even a slight blemish.