Mrs. Chen’s three daughters were: the eldest sister, Huo Wanyu, aged twenty-one; the second sister, Huo Wanshu, aged twenty; and the third sister, Huo Wanyan, aged nineteen. All three had betrothal contracts settled long ago, but as ill luck would have it, all three of their fiancés’ families suffered bereavements one after another, requiring them to observe a three-year period of mourning.
With great difficulty they endured the mourning period, and just as the wedding days approached, the Huo family met with disaster.
Treason was a grave crime punishable by the execution of nine generations. Fearing involvement, the three fiancés’ families all came to dissolve the betrothals. Thus, the three sisters became left-over women abandoned in their maiden chambers, suffering a truly bitter fate.
Fortunately, Huo Anzong and his wife doted heavily on these three daughters, and the sisters were extremely close to Mrs. Chen. It was just that having three such elder sisters-in-law picking faults every day at home made life truly bitter for the female lead, Zhang Yulin.
Facing Huo Wanyu’s accusation, Zhang Yulin, who had been standing quietly behind Huo Kai, spoke calmly: “In reply to Eldest Sister, Yulin does not know.”
Huo Wanyu spoke again: “I heard that when you went to the Old Lady’s courtyard today, every single word you spoke helped the First Branch stab knives straight into Mother’s heart. Mother was already injured to this extent, yet you and Huo Jun’s group joined forces to block Fifth Brother and prevent him from leaving. What, could it be that you also want to learn from Yin Weiyue and step out of bounds? What a pity you don’t have a high and mighty official for a father like hers to clean up your mess!”
“Isn’t that right? As the saying goes—” As soon as her words fell, Huo Wanshu and Huo Wanyan echoed in agreement, but before they could finish their sentence, they were glared into silence by Huo Kai.
Perhaps elder sisters-in-law held a natural hostility toward a younger brother’s wife, much like the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship—tangled and impossible to untangle. Just as Huo Wanshu and Huo Wanyan beside her wanted to add fuel to the fire on this topic, they were frightened into silence by Huo Kai.
Yes, the two of them were afraid of Huo Kai.
Huo Wanyu was not afraid of him because she had not witnessed Huo Kai’s actions with her own eyes back then. When he went wild, he disowned all kin; the two younger sisters still retained vivid memories of the tragic event at their maternal uncle’s house years ago.
Because Mrs. Chen had plotted her own marriage back then and was born of a concubine in her maiden family, she was extremely disliked by her family and suffered humiliation every time she returned to her maiden home.
During the first lunar month of that year, Mrs. Chen brought her four children back to her maiden home. Who could have known that the uncle’s ten-year-old eldest son would deliberately make things difficult, pushing the servant boy who grew up with Huo Kai into the pond?
To save him, Huo Kai jumped into the water in the dead of winter, but the boy died anyway. The uncle shielded his son, not only ignoring the matter, but also deeming a death in the first lunar month bad luck, wrapping the servant in a straw mat and throwing him out.
That very night, the eldest cousin’s room caught fire, and he was burned to black ashes along with the room. A sparkler firework was found not far from his door; a thorough search throughout the manor revealed no other clues, leading to the final conclusion that he was playing recklessly, secretly lighting sparkler fireworks in his room, which sparked a fire and burned him to death.
Only Huo Wanshu and Huo Wanyan knew the truth.
The two sisters were around the same age as that servant boy, all childhood playmates who grew up together; being young without strict gender boundaries, they shared a good relationship.
When the servant died, they were also very heartbroken, so taking advantage of the dark night when the adults were feasting in the front hall and the servants were slack, they secretly ran to the pond to pay their respects.
Before long, a sound came from the opposite side of the pond—it was seven-year-old Huo Kai, carrying the ten-year-old eldest cousin.
In the freezing, dark night, illuminated by the dim moonlight, they saw the eldest cousin tied up firmly with his mouth gagged. Huo Kai pressed his head into the pond water, refusing to let go no matter how he struggled.
They could never forget Huo Kai’s blood-red eyes at that moment.
Soon, the eldest cousin stopped moving, and Huo Kai carried the body away. After that, the eldest cousin’s room caught fire.
The two were terrified, and fearing that if this was known Huo Kai would pay for the cousin’s life with his own, they kept it hidden, not even telling their mother.
Upon returning from their uncle’s house, Huo Kai fell gravely ill and forgot everything that happened. The two sisters never brought it up again, but from then on, they harbored a bit more fear toward this younger brother.
He was so deeply affectionate toward a mere servant boy, let alone his own wife; they didn’t want to provoke this cold-faced King of Hell again.
Sure enough, Huo Kai immediately spoke up: “Yulin has done nothing wrong to our family. The Huo family is currently on the crest of the wave—can everyone quiet down and stop picking fights?”
He thoroughly despised his sisters and mother constantly picking faults with Zhang Yulin; petty spats among women were truly annoying.
Seeing her son protecting his wife, the flames of jealousy in Mrs. Chen’s heart instantly ignited.
“Your eldest sister is right! On normal days, all she talks about is showing filial piety, but at the critical moment, she eats from our bowl while turning her coat outside! It shows she has been faking it over the past two years, wishing nothing more than for me, her mother-in-law, to die at the First Branch today!”
The scolded Zhang Yulin continued to lower her eyes and keep her composure, as if this family wasn’t scolding her at all. She understood her situation clearly; this was not modern times, but ancient times where only power mattered.
Her maiden family’s influence was meager and could not back her up; although the Old Lady doted on her, she could barely protect herself; and the dowry she brought along had all been confiscated. Now her basic needs all depended on the Third Branch, where Mrs. Chen held the final say.
If she clashed head-on, she would surely suffer the loss. The best way to strike back was being detached and remaining silent—just as the saying goes: “Let her scold as she pleases, I simply won’t speak; let her go wild as she pleases, I’ll just treat it as a fart.”
Zhang Yulin’s set of tactics never failed. Sure enough, while she felt nothing in her heart, Huo Kai finally reached his limit of endurance.
“Mother, how long do you intend to keep making an unreasonable scene? In short, the money and items must be sent to the First Branch tomorrow! Whatever we eat in the future, we must give to grandmother to eat! If you disagree, I can play the game of crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang myself too!”
Huo Kai didn’t want to stay and argue any longer, so pulling Zhang Yulin along, he left.
“Do as Kai’er says!” With his son gone, Huo Anzong wanted to stay and take the sharp insults even less, so taking his two concubines along, he also left in a hurry.
Driven mad with rage, Mrs. Chen pounded the bed with both hands.
“Mother, be gentle! You still have injuries on your buttocks,” Huo Wanyu hurriedly stepped forward and said.
“Look at their attitude! Father and son sharing the same deadly virtue! What use is giving birth to a son? He only knows how to protect his wife—I would have been better off giving birth to a wooden mallet back then!”
“Mother, those are just words spoken in anger. Zhang Yulin is merely a punching bag; when all is said and done, she is still a member of our Third Branch. The ones who truly have a grudge against us are the First Branch. Why are you putting the cart before the horse and venting your anger at Father and Fifth Brother instead?”
Huo Wanyu’s single sentence awakened Mrs. Chen from her violent rage: “That’s right! The ones who harmed us are the First Branch! If not for Huo Anjiang’s family, how could we have been searched and put under house arrest, and how could the three of you have had your betrothals dissolved?”
At the mention of the dissolved betrothals, Huo Wanshu and Huo Wanyan beside her couldn’t help but turn red around the eyes. As women, their entire lives had been ruined just like that.
“Therefore, the property of our Third Branch cannot be given to the First Branch—not a single cent!” Huo Wanyu clenched her fists tightly, her eyes filled entirely with hatred.
“But you all saw it too—Father and Fifth Brother took a very firm stance this time. If Mother doesn’t comply, Fifth Brother will not drop the matter.” Huo Wanshu feared that if Huo Kai was pushed too far, he would go mad and lose control like he did years ago.
“Mother, Eldest Sister, why don’t we just pick half of the valueless items to send to the First Branch? I think Father is right; although Eldest Uncle is in the grand prison now, he hasn’t been decapitated after all, and the Emperor will one hundred percent protect him. Though the Emperor is currently constrained, no matter how constrained he is, he is still the Emperor after all. There’s no guaranteeing he won’t make a comeback one day, so it’s best not to do things too ruthlessly.”
Huo Wanyan deeply understood the principle of “leaving a line in all things to make future meetings easier.” Besides, before the Huo Manor fell, Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt treated them very well, without a single fault to be found.
“Third Sister, what do you mean? Even you are turning your coat outside?”
“Eldest Sister, I am securing a way out for us.”
“Hmph, a way out?” Huo Wanyu sneered. “How can you be sure Huo Anjiang can definitely get out of prison? We’ve been locked up for two years—what if we just keep being locked up like this? What if he still can’t get out after five or ten years? If you send the silver to the First Branch now, are we supposed to spend our future years waiting to drink the northwest wind?”
“Alright, stop arguing, all of you!” Mrs. Chen pulled on the injury on her buttocks, grimacing in pain. “I will absolutely not give money to the First Branch! However, Wanshu and Wanyan are right too—if Kai’er gets stubborn, ten oxen can’t pull him back. I’m unwilling to hurt our mother-son affection over this, so we can’t come at this matter head-on with him.”
Saying this, Mrs. Chen pointed her hand toward the east wall: “You three go and move that wardrobe aside.”
The three did not know the meaning, but under Huo Wanyu’s lead, they moved the cabinet away, exposing the brick wall behind it.
“Go, count from the bottom up and pull out the fifth blue brick,” Mrs. Chen instructed Huo Wanyu. “After taking the brick away, there is a red-lacquered mechanism inside. Press down hard with your thumb.”
Huo Wanyu was shocked; the fifth brick was indeed loose. She slowly pulled it out, and inside there unexpectedly sat a small, red-lacquered round piece of wood. Pressing down hard, she only heard a *clack*, and the head of the carved rosewood bed Mrs. Chen was lying on suddenly opened up like Open Sesame.
None of the three daughters ever expected that their mother’s carved rosewood bedhead was actually hollow, containing a two-foot-square golden-thread nanmu box inside.