Chapter 675 Bad Relationship

"What? My granddaughter is coming back to her parents' home, and I can't even come to see her?"

The old count had no respect for his wife, and seeing her pretentious manner, he couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

The old lady naturally couldn't say no, but she felt uneasy about it, so she turned around and sat down next to him.

Seeing that the two had quieted down, Meng Wei quickly turned around and gestured to Gu Renjie. Only then did the two stand up and bow to Old Madam Meng.

The old lady was initially a little angry with her granddaughter and grandson-in-law, but all her anger disappeared when she saw the old man.

"Good children, get up!"

The old lady gestured to the servants to help them up.

"I heard that you offended quite a few people by speaking out at the banquet the other day?"

Although the old Count lived in the inner quarters, news was not kept out of reach. This self-inflicted trouble quickly reached the old Count's ears.

"Grandfather, it seems that I have offended quite a few people."

Gu Renjie didn't give a definitive answer, but the general meaning was roughly the same.

"So what if he offended someone? Our son-in-law Sun is the eldest son of the Marquis's family and the newly appointed top scholar. Does he have to be afraid of anyone?"

Before the old lady could say a word, she was interrupted by the old man, and so she couldn't help but chime in.

Unfortunately, as soon as she finished speaking, everyone looked at her, and everyone looked at her with disapproval. Even the two younger people disagreed with her words.

"Who are you afraid of? Do you think you can just stand by and watch from the court? That's a woman's view, not worthy of serious consideration."

Even if the younger generation disagreed with the old lady's words, they dared not say anything. But the old master was different. He immediately launched into a tirade against the old lady.

The old lady felt that the old man was her nemesis, and he would always find something to criticize her no matter what she said.

It would have been one thing to do it in private, but to do it in front of so many younger family members is just too disrespectful.

"Why can't we rely on ourselves? Even the Grand Secretary, who holds the highest rank, relies on himself."

The old lady, unable to bear it any longer, retorted sharply to the old count.

The old man smiled when he heard this.

"Do you think that the position of Grand Secretary, second only to the Emperor, can be achieved by one person alone? A just cause gains many supporters, while an unjust cause finds few. Apart from His Majesty's favor, does the Grand Secretary have no support from other officials in the court?"

The old man's words were all reasonable and well-founded, leaving the old lady speechless.

Even so, the old lady insisted, "Anyway, he relied on himself."

The elderly couple were exchanging words back and forth, clearly displaying a tense atmosphere. Seeing this, Meng Wei quickly spoke up to interrupt them.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, today your granddaughter is returning home for the wedding. I didn’t know what to bring for you, so I found a few little trinkets for you to play with in your spare time.”

As Meng Wei spoke, she gestured to the maid beside her, who immediately had several strange and unusual items brought up.

The two elders were interrupted, and their eyes immediately fell on those things.

Suddenly, the old Marquis's eyes lit up when he saw a small, exquisitely crafted frame.

The basket doesn't seem to be made of wood, and judging from its shape, it looks like a birdcage.

"I'll take this one."

Before the old lady could speak, the old man had already accepted the frame.

As for the others, the old man said he didn't recognize them and wasn't curious, so these natural items were taken to the old lady's place.

Looking at the strange object that had finally been delivered, Gu Renjie and Meng Wei actually breathed a sigh of relief.

These things all belonged to the new house, but because of their strange shapes, Gu Renjie had long since stopped liking them.

Although Meng Wei also couldn't stand it, she didn't say much because it was prepared by Ji Shi. Now that some could be sent to her parents' home, their house would be a little less troublesome.

After breakfast, Meng Wei stayed in the room with Madam Meng and Old Madam Meng to talk.

Meanwhile, Master Meng and the old man were unusually able to talk about serious matters with Gu Renjie.

The old man still insisted on Gu Renjie's views. He believed that if Gu Renjie wanted to gain a foothold in the court and reach the position of Marquis Gu, he must learn to win over the ministers.

For the first time, Master Meng's opinion aligned with that of Madam Meng; he felt that relying on connections was useless, no matter how high one climbed the ladder.

As long as Gu Renjie has real talent and can bring fame and fortune, it wouldn't be a problem for him to just be a minor official.

As for Gu Renjie himself, he simply smiled and agreed to whatever anyone said without offering any further explanation.

They stayed at the Meng residence until evening, and after dinner, the two returned to the Hou residence.

On the way, Gu Renjie asked Meng Wei, "It seems that your grandfather and grandmother did not have a good relationship."

Although the two were bickering like an ordinary married couple, Gu Renjie keenly noticed that the relationship between the elderly couple was quite different from that of other couples.

Upon hearing this, Meng Wei glanced at Gu Renjie, as if she had something difficult to say.

Just when Gu Renjie thought Meng Wei didn't want to answer the question, he heard Meng Wei slowly say, "Actually, I'm not sure if they have a bad relationship."

“My grandmother raised me from a very young age. In my memory, my grandfather was just a title, someone I could only see during the few days of the Lunar New Year. He rarely visited my grandmother and preferred to stay in his own courtyard.”

"But unfortunately, my grandfather only had one wife, my grandmother. There were no concubines, illegitimate children, or even just my father as his only child. People envied my grandmother for not having any troublesome concubines and thought that women should be like her. But I didn't think my grandmother was happy. On the contrary, she seemed more sad than many people."

Thinking back to when I was a child, I often saw Old Madam Meng staring blankly and sighing, sometimes saying things like, "If only I hadn't married into the Meng family."

Meng Wei didn't understand it at first, but now she seems to understand it a little.

Even if no one in the family causes her distress, a woman who has been neglected by her husband still feels lonely and miserable inside.

"Perhaps something happened back then, who knows?"

Gu Renjie noticed that Meng Wei's expression was off and wanted to offer her some words of comfort.

Meng Wei shook her head, indicating that she didn't care.

Although she felt sad for the old lady, it did not affect her.

Compared to the tense atmosphere at the Meng family's place, the Gu family was all smiles and harmony.

In the past year, Gu Shuyan and Gu Renjie got married one after another, and with the addition of their great-grandson Gu Congzheng, the old lady's smile just couldn't stop.

Gu Shuyan and Yun Yichen entered the Marquis's residence. First, they went to the old lady's courtyard to kowtow to her, and then greeted her parents one by one. Only then did they deliver the prepared gifts to each of the courtyards.

Gu Congzheng is now a few months old. This little guy can't speak yet, but he can already recognize people.

As soon as Gu Shuyan came in from outside, Gu Congzheng happily reached out his hands, wanting Gu Shuyan to hug him.