Being told “don’t be afraid” by a woman made Ye Si Ming feel a little strange.
But in his current state, he truly had no choice but to rely on her.
He raised his eyes and met the woman’s gentle yet cool gaze.
For some reason, he believed her.
“Alright… I’ll listen to you.”
He hadn’t expected the family separation to be agreed to so cleanly and decisively.
Could there be some hidden scheme?
The people from the second and third branches exchanged suspicious looks, wondering if the main branch had hidden something valuable. But when they looked closer, the two of them carried no bundles at all—only coarse clothes on their backs.
There wasn’t a single valuable item, not even food.
“Big Brother, Sister-in-law, if we split the family, what will we do then?”Ye Si Yun looked worried, far from as optimistic as the others imagined.
“There will always be a way,” Mu Mianmian said.
Meiniang and the little brother sat quietly to the side, with nothing to add.
Ye Si Ming had just woken up and spoken for a short while before losing strength again, unable to continue.
In the end, Mu Mianmian made the final decision.“Trust me. We have hands and feet—we won’t starve.”
“If not, we’ll only end up living at the mercy of others for the rest of our lives. Are you willing to live like that?”
Ye Si Yun fell silent.
“Commander Liu, please act as our witness,” Mu Mianmian said.“The Ye family is officially splitting today. There are three copies of the agreement—each party signs, and that will settle it.”
The Ye family was now utterly destitute.
There was nothing to divide at all.
In truth, it was merely a document certifying the separation of households.
Commander Liu didn’t mind. “Fine.”
The old matriarch and the others were furious.“Fine, split then! Don’t come begging us later!”
“Sign it,” Mu Mianmian said calmly.
Ye Second and Ye Third signed and pressed their fingerprints without hesitation.
Finally, Ye Si Ming signed and pressed his fingerprint as well.
Each party kept one copy, and Commander Liu held one for record.
Just like that, the family was officially split.
Mu Mianmian was in a good mood.“Si Yun, stay here and wait for me. I’ll go find some food and herbs.”
“Alright, Sister-in-law, be careful,” Ye Si Yun replied.
Ye Si Ming said weakly, “Si Yun, go with her.”
“No need. I can manage on my own.”
Mu Mianmian stood up and walked toward the woods.
Everyone rested in place.
The heat was oppressive, and no one wanted to move.
“Hmph. Let’s see what she can find to eat,” Shen Jia sneered as she sat under a tree, watching Mu Mianmian disappear into the forest.
“This place is so desolate—what food could there possibly be? I heard there’s a famine in this region.”
“There’s not even a ghost around. How could she find anything to eat?”
Shen Jia took out a piece of pastry from her bundle.“Ah Jin, do you want some?”
The three-year-old child stared at the pastry, saliva practically dripping, but he turned his head away.“Hmph, I won’t eat it!”
“Suit yourself—starve then!”Ye Si Lan bit into the pastry and gulped down some water.
They had brought plenty of dry rations and water.
All the remaining resources from the estate had been seized by them, so they wouldn’t go hungry.
But they didn’t give a single bite to the main branch.
Ye Si Yun and the others could only watch them eat.
“Mother… when will Sister-in-law come back?”Little Ah Jin was already starving—only when his sister-in-law returned would there be food.
Shen Jia sneered. “She’s been gone so long—maybe she ran away.”
“If she ran away, will it implicate us?”
Hearing this, the old matriarch panicked.“Then hurry and report it to Commander Liu! If that wretched girl dares to drag us down, catch her and beat her to death!”
The Ye family immediately went to report it.
Hearing that Mu Mianmian had supposedly fled, Commander Liu quickly brought men over.
“Mu Mianmian ran away?”
“No!” Ye Si Yun was startled and hurriedly stood up to explain.“My sister-in-law only went to find food. She already informed Commander Liu!”
A soldier sneered. “The Ye family already confessed that Mu Mianmian ran away—and you still dare lie? Speak! Which way did Mu Mianmian run?”
The whip cracked down with a loud snap.
Ye Si Yun’s face turned deathly pale.
Watching from the side, Shen Jia and the others felt secretly pleased.“If you knew and didn’t report it, you deserve to be beaten. Si Yun, you should just tell the truth. Leniency comes with confession—quick, tell Commander Liu where Mu Mianmian ran!”
“How could Mu Mianmian be willing to follow your brother? She must have deliberately forced the family split, then ran away without caring whether you lived or died.”
“Sister-in-law won’t run…”Terrified, Ye Si Yun clung to her mother.
Ye Si Ming was so furious that he tried to force himself up.
The soldiers grew anxious as well—if a prisoner escaped, it would be their responsibility, and they would be punished.
“If she dared to run, I’ll beat you all to death!”
“Stop!”