“Of course I came to see my eldest brother!”
Wei Xinian grabbed Wei Nancheng’s arm.
“Honestly, Grandmother, you were too harsh. My brother followed the rules all his life. He finally opened his heart, and you punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall! Isn’t that too much?”
Li Zhenchun’s eyelid twitched as she looked at him.
Before she could stop him, the fool proudly continued,
“My brother won’t go looking for other women outside. Is he supposed to spend his whole life with this silly girl? The Wei family has gone through four generations without ever divorcing a wife. Since my brother can’t divorce her, he can only stay with— Ow! Who kicked me?!”
The fool looked up and saw Fang Rushi’s icy expression.
Just as her slap came flying toward him, Wei Xinian quickly crouched down and covered his head.
The force of the slap made Wei Nancheng’s hair move. Seeing that the slap was about to hit his face instead, Li Zhenchun quickly grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head backward.
“You unfilial brat! You even dare to slander your brother—”
Then Fang Rushi’s anger instantly turned into panic.
“Nancheng! My dear Nancheng! Did I hurt you?”
Even Chen Runiang was startled.
She only had one precious son. He had never been slapped in his life.
“Nancheng, are you alright?”
She hurried over and carefully supported him.
Wei Nancheng calmed himself and replied,
“I’m fine.”
Then he slightly turned toward Li Zhenchun.
“Let go.”
Li Zhenchun looked at the large handful of black hair in her hand and quickly released it as if it were burning her.
After she let go, Wei Nancheng straightened himself and glanced at her.
“Don’t pull my hair again.”
She had not done it on purpose.
But if she had not grabbed his hair, was she supposed to pull his ears instead?
He probably would not like that either.
She smiled awkwardly.
“I’ll be gentler next time.”
In other words, she planned to do it again.
“You…”
Before Wei Nancheng could finish speaking, Wei Xinian had already stood back up.
“My dear mother! That slap was so strong! I could feel the wind over my head! Fang Rushi, are you trying to beat your own son to death?”
“I am trying to beat you, you unfilial brat!”
Fang Rushi pulled the whip from her waist.
“If I don’t teach you a lesson today, my name isn’t Fang Rushi!”
“Murder! This evil woman is killing her own son!”
Wei Xinian ran wildly around the courtyard while Fang Rushi chased him with the whip.
Wei Zhouqing clicked her tongue.
“It’s been so many years since our family was this lively.”
Even Old Madam Wei’s serious expression softened.
“Xinian is still so mischievous. He’s about to become a father, yet he still behaves like this.”
She looked at Yue Jingque.
“Jingque, you’ll have to work harder in the future and keep an eye on him. Make sure he studies.”
“Yes.”
Yue Jingque watched Wei Xinian slip away like an eel. He suddenly slid on his knees between Li Zhenchun and Wei Nancheng.
“Stop! Fang Rushi, look who’s standing here! This is my eldest brother! Your favorite son! What if you accidentally hit him? Won’t that break your heart?”
“You little monkey! Nancheng, move aside! Today I’m going to whip him until he can’t sit down!”
Wei Nancheng wanted to move.
But Wei Xinian was clutching the back of his clothes tightly. If he moved, Wei Xinian would move with him.
“Second Aunt, burning the ancestral hall was not Xinian’s fault alone.”
“As his elder brother, I failed to set a good example and failed to stop him.”
“If you must punish someone, you should punish me first.”
Wei Nancheng was still kneeling.
Behind him, Wei Xinian was so touched that he almost cried.
“Brother! I knew you were the best!”
Li Zhenchun looked at the back of Wei Xinian’s head.
This fool really forgets kindness quickly.
When he was in prison, he had praised her the same way.
Now that he was home, he was calling her a “silly girl” again.
Although Wei Xinian was ungrateful, she knew she also had to accept part of the blame.
After all, she was the one who had released the crow into the ancestral hall.
“Second Aunt… I was also at fault.”
Wei Xinian and Wei Nancheng both turned to look at her.
Even Fang Rushi, Chen Runiang, and the other elders looked at her.
Li Zhenchun: “…”
The pressure is overwhelming.
What should I do? I suddenly can’t think of what mistake to confess.
She suddenly knocked her forehead to the ground.
“My heart stands with Nancheng!”
She could not just watch innocent Wei Nancheng suffer because of everyone else.
Among the three of them, he was the most innocent.
Wei Xinian asked,
“Why doesn’t your heart stand with me?”
Fang Rushi kicked him in the shoulder, making him stumble.
Wei Xinian immediately realized he had said something foolish.
Among the four younger members of the family, he and Li Zhenchun were the closest.
But she was no longer his wife.
Yue Jingque stepped forward and slowly knelt before Old Madam Wei.
The old lady looked at her.
“You were also at fault?”
“Yes.”
Yue Jingque lowered her head in shame.
“Thinking about it, Xinian was upset because of me today.”
“That is why he went to the ancestral hall to talk with his elder brother.”
“If I had kept him in our courtyard, the ancestral hall would never have caught fire.”
“If anyone should share the blame, then I should be punished together with him.”
“Who wants your fake kindness?!”
Wei Xinian stood up from behind Wei Nancheng, hurried over to Yue Jingque, and grabbed her sleeve, trying to pull her to her feet.
“Get up! The floor is cold! If something happens to the baby, don’t blame me!”
“Xinian!”
Old Madam Wei spoke sharply while striking her walking stick heavily against the ground.
Wei Xinian immediately knelt again.
“Grandmother, I should take responsibility for my own actions.”
“This has nothing to do with them.”
“If you want to punish someone, punish only me.”
Fang Rushi threw down her whip and knelt beside him.
“Mother, this is ultimately my fault.”
“I spoiled him too much and raised him into someone this reckless.”
“Otherwise, where would he have found the courage to burn the ancestral hall?”
“Mother, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Be quiet!”
Fang Rushi glared at him before turning back to Old Madam Wei.
“If you are going to punish someone, punish me as well.”
The Wei family was different from other families.
Most families had only a few ancestral tablets in their ancestral hall.
The Wei family’s hall was filled with them, because those tablets belonged to their fathers, husbands, and sons—the people closest to them.
Burning the ancestral hall was an extremely serious offense.
Even if Wei Xinian were beaten to death for it, no one would think the punishment excessive.
That was exactly why Wei Nancheng, Li Zhenchun, and Yue Jingque all chose to share his punishment.
It was better for four people to each suffer a severe beating than for one person to be beaten to death.
Wei Zhouqing also knelt beside Fang Rushi.
“Mother always said that I was the one who led Xinian into trouble.”
“If he made such a mistake today, then as both his aunt and his martial arts teacher, I also bear responsibility.”
Wei family’s Fourth Sister-in-law, He Wan, quietly knelt beside Wei Zhouqing.
She said nothing, but her attitude was clear and firm.
Before anyone realized it, almost every member of the Wei family was kneeling on the ground.
Only Chen Runiang and Old Madam Wei remained standing.