Right now, the Huo family was teetering in the wind and rain, with every branch harboring their own selfish motives. These people did not even respect the Old Lady, let alone a concubine-born concubine.
The Old Lady was too tired to listen to the two of them being hypocritical with each other. Leaning on her walking stick, she stood up, looked at the so-called family members groaning all over the floor, and staggered over to the doorway, raising her head to look up at the sky.
The sky was still the same sky from back then; the golden sun and floating clouds seemed as though nothing had changed, yet she had long passed from the years of dark hair to the twilight of her life. Over the years, she had witnessed the rises and falls of the Huo family, striving for most of her life and protecting them for most of her life, only for it all to end up in vain.
Since things had reached such a point, what was the point of continuing to hold on?
Therefore, these cold, heartless people and affairs should be cut off completely today. She had done right by the Old Master, and done right by the ancestors of the Huo family; everything was more than enough.
“Fine, divide the family!” Her body was old and frail, but these three words were firm and forceful.
Hearing the Old Lady agree, Yin Weiyue breathed a sigh of relief. Although the first branch had weak fighting power, their strength lay in the fact that everyone kept a clear head at crucial moments.
“Dividing the family is a major event; all four branches must be present for it to count.” Yin Weiyue did not just want to separate out the second and fourth branches; the third branch had to be separated out as well. Not to mention that Zhang Yulin was like a ticking time bomb for Huo Jun after her rebirth, she couldn’t even stand someone like Lady Chen alone.
She had Huo Dong notify the rest of the first branch, while notifying the third branch was left to the fourth branch.
Seeing that the Old Lady was set on not fetching a doctor this time, Little Lady Liu’s heart grew even more resentful. Looking at her son whose face was covered in blood, she could only let her daughter-in-law, Lady Du, take two concubines to the main gate to beg the guards for a doctor.
…
In a short while, everyone had arrived, with even Lady Chen being carried over on Huo Kai’s back.
Those who arrived later had not experienced the previous scene. Hearing out of nowhere that the family was to be divided, everyone was astounded, except for Lady Chen and her daughter as well as Huo Qiu and his mother, who had already known beforehand.
Although Lady Chen was not surprised, she had not expected the Old Lady to agree to the family division so quickly. What was even more unexpected was that, except for Huo Jun who had scratch marks all over his face, the weak first branch was completely unharmed, while the second branch, which had stronger fighting power, was lying wounded all over the floor instead.
Could it really be that this bitch Yin Weiyue beat them up?
Seeing the injured and disabled all over the ground, Huo Kai was also genuinely taken aback. Although Second Uncle and Third Brother were not proficient in martial arts, they were still trained fighters after all. He hadn’t expected them to be beaten so miserably; it seemed he had truly underestimated Yin Weiyue’s martial prowess.
“Alright, now that everyone is here, let us begin discussing how to divide the family estate.” Yin Weiyue stood beside the Old Lady, once again volunteering to be her spokesperson, instantly taking control of the entire room.
“Grandmother, I don’t care how the second and fourth branches divide it, but our third branch will not divide the family.” Huo Kai opened his mouth and snatched his father’s lines right away, forcing Huo Anzong, who was about to speak beside him, to shut his mouth again.
As soon as these words came out, Lady Chen on his back coughed up a mouthful of blood and slammed the back of his head out of frustration over his failure to meet expectations. How on earth did she give birth to such a blockhead?
Setting aside whether they could leave the Huo Manor after dividing the family, if they didn’t divide the family, half of the third branch’s money on the surface would have to be given to the first branch, which was a considerable sum.
Huo Anzong ignored Lady Chen’s fiery gaze. He bowed to the Old Lady and said, “Your son is unfilial and made Mother suffer, but our third branch will absolutely not divide the family.”
Huo Qiu immediately chimed in as well, “My concubine mother and I won’t divide the family either.”
Originally, Huo Jun had only wanted to separate out the second and fourth branches. Although the third branch was also at fault, they were, after all, part of the main legitimate line.
These few people being unwilling to divide the family was within Yin Weiyue’s expectations, especially Huo Qiu, who had always harbored a heart of gratitude toward the first branch.
On the day Huo Qiu was born, a Taoist priest interpreted his fate, saying he was the reincarnation of the Fantasy Physician Heavenly Venerable from heaven. It happened to coincide with a period when the Old Lady was feeling unwell, so he was taken under the Old Lady’s knee to be raised. Soon after, the Old Lady’s health indeed improved greatly, so she took it upon herself to raise Huo Qiu in the first branch, sending him back to the second branch only when he turned ten.
As a concubine-born son, he was able to attend the Imperial Academy alongside Huo Kai and Huo Jun without worrying about food and clothing, all thanks to Eldest Uncle Huo Anjiang. He was a person who knew how to repay kindness; in the original book, it was written that to repay the favor, he carried the heavily injured Huo Jun on his back to travel during the early days of the exile.
However, Huo Qiu had to be separated out.
Precisely because he favored the first branch out of gratitude during the early stage of exile, he enraged Little Lady Liu. The second branch scolded him for not distinguishing between closeness and distance, leading to him and his mother being marginalized on the way to exile, nearly causing Lady Tang to die. At this moment, Zhang Yulin stepped in to help, and from then on, Huo Qiu fell deeply in love with her.
Although Yin Weiyue had not read this part of the plot, her deskmate had mentioned it to her when recommending the book back then. In the book, Huo Qiu had always silently protected Zhang Yulin without asking for anything in return. Arising from passion yet restrained by propriety, he buried his intense love deep in his heart without ever speaking it out loud, making him an exceptionally qualified and deeply affectionate male supporting character.
That was until he discovered that Zhang Yulin hated Huo Jun. Surprisingly, he ignored the past kindness and added a heavy, prominent blow in the process of dealing with Huo Jun.
Therefore, these dangerous individuals must be kept far away.
However, Yin Weiyue sized up the Old Lady and Huo Jun, realizing that they had no intention of separating out the third branch. She looked at Lady Chen, then at Huo Anzong, and finally fixed her gaze on Huo Kai.
“The third branch will never divide the family? How laughable. Then why were you so anxious last night to send silver to the second and fourth branches to instigate them?”
Although the matter of dividing the family occurred four days earlier than in the original book, Yin Weiyue was certain that Lady Chen would still do the same as in the book—sending a hundred taels of silver to each branch as bait.
“What?!” This time, not only Huo Anzong and his son, but even the Old Lady and the people of the first branch were shocked.
The hearts of Lady Chen and her three daughters trembled.
Huo Kai set Lady Chen down to let her lean against her three elder sisters, his gaze sharp yet disappointed at this moment.
“Is it true?” Facing Huo Kai’s confrontation, Lady Chen panicked. Was this Yin girl possessed by a demon? How did she know everything!
After a moment of silence.
“Good, good, good.” The Old Lady said “good” three times in a row, but her heart felt as if it had been stabbed three times. A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and her deeply wrinkled face was filled with desolation.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the descendants before her, seeing herself in her younger years, returning to that autumn under the grape trellis in the pavilion, where several children surrounded her, joyfully shouting, “Mother, hold me!”
“I am old, and you have all grown up. Since ancient times, a large tree branches out, and grown children split the household; it is time to let go.”
Huo Jun knew the Old Lady was heartbroken. Third Uncle was her biological son, yet to think that they were the ones who took the lead in dividing the family. Since that was the case, there was no need to force them to stay; separating would make things clean and clear.
“I will write the family division deed.” Then, as if well-practiced, Huo Jun tore a piece of cloth from the hem of his robe, bit his finger to squeeze out blood, and was about to write.
“Hiss~” Yin Weiyue drew in a cold breath, her face still burning with pain, yet who would have thought that a moment of not paying attention resulted in his finger suffering again. She hurriedly stepped forward and pressed down on his wound.
Huo Jun’s body froze.
The woman’s fingertips were warm and tender. Being this close to each other, her scent wafted into his nose just like that, making the bitten wound seem to no longer hurt.
Huo Jun lifted his eyelashes slightly. When she wasn’t beating or scolding people, she was actually… quite beautiful.
Yin Weiyue had no idea that a simple “self-preservation” action had caused Huo Jun to have so many reveries. She opened her mouth and yelled, “Why do you cherish your body so little? Don’t you know it hurts?”
Everyone was astonished as to why Yin Weiyue had changed her attitude toward Huo Jun overnight, especially Huo Wangyu. She knew very well how much this legitimate daughter of the Yin family liked her fifth brother and how much she hated Huo Jun.
Today, the Yin girl was truly abnormal; could she really be possessed by an evil spirit?
However, only little Huo Dong felt that he had found the truth.
Those who said Seventh Sister-in-law hated Seventh Brother and liked Fifth Brother were talking sheer nonsense. Seventh Sister-in-law clearly liked Seventh Brother very much, and even loved the house and its crow—loving him along with Seventh Brother as well.