“Shut up!”
Hearing his brothers speak so recklessly, the third son shouted in anger.
“Don’t you know walls have ears? How dare you blabber about such things?”
“I’m warning you—if Father’s feigned death is exposed and it leads back to us stealing a corpse from the charitable mortuary, forget about dividing the family estate. We might even end up in jail!”
After this series of warnings, the second and fourth sons instantly wilted, covering their mouths in fearful regret.
In the shadows outside the door.
Song Jinyao, who had turned back after leaving, had eyes brimming with sorrow.
Heh, to scheme against her, their mother, these three ungrateful sons would stop at nothing!
How audacious!
It was her fault!
In her previous life, when the three brought back “Lu Xiuyuan’s” corpse from outside, they only said he had fallen into a mountain stream and that his face was damaged.
Overwhelmed by grief, she had only taken a quick glance. Indeed, it was a bloody, mangled mess, and she couldn’t bear to look again. That was how they managed to deceive her.
But.
As a mother, in such a situation, who would have thought otherwise?
How many sons in this world would conspire with their father to stage a fake death?
Moreover, the corpse’s build, clothing—
Even the pouch at the waist was one she had sewn herself.
If she was deceived, it could only be blamed on the excessive trust she had placed in these three unfilial sons!
Half an hour later.
The lights in Song Jinyao’s room went out.
Soon after, the third son sneaked out of the house.
“Mother? Why is Third Brother leaving instead of keeping vigil for Father in the Ling Tang?”
Under the ink-black moonlight, beneath the osmanthus tree in the courtyard, Lu Wenhui whispered to Song Jinyao.
She had just been abruptly awakened by her mother in her room and didn’t yet know about the Changming Lantern going out in the Ling Tang.
Since her brothers hadn’t yet moved out to establish separate households, each had their own courtyard within this large estate.
Even if they were taking shifts to rest, Third Brother shouldn’t be leaving at this hour.
Lu Wenhui was puzzled by Lu Yue’s unusual behavior.
“He’s gone to seek reinforcements,” Song Jinyao said with a cold laugh.
She looked at her second daughter with a complex expression.
Sighing inwardly.
In truth, when it came to intelligence, this second daughter of hers was far more clever and perceptive than any of her sons.
However, in her previous life, she had favored sons over daughters, refusing to educate her daughter carefully and even forbidding her from studying too much. Back then, she believed that if girls read too much and developed their own thoughts and opinions, they would become harder to control. Daughters were meant to pave the way for their brothers—how could they escape her grasp?
Yet, in her previous life, her second daughter had somehow managed to learn elegant, delicate calligraphy and, after separating from her husband’s family, became a female teacher at a Sishu.
The current emperor held progressive views, and women’s status was far higher than in the past.
Though female merchants and teachers were rare, they were no longer considered shocking.
Her second daughter was ambitious and strong-willed.
Song Jinyao couldn’t help but sigh again—she had held her daughter back.
Lu Wenhui didn’t understand her mother’s meaning, blinking her large eyes in confusion.
The young girl hadn’t yet reached her coming-of-age ceremony, her face still slightly rounded with baby fat, giving her a youthful appearance.
But her eyes were exceptionally clear and lively, shimmering beautifully under the moonlight.
After a moment of contemplation, Song Jinyao leaned close to her second daughter’s ear and whispered a few sentences.
Lu Wenhui’s eyes widened with each word she heard.
Half a cup of tea later, as Song Jinyao finished speaking, the expression on Lu Wenhui’s face shifted from initial disbelief to shock, and finally to suppressed fury.
“Mother? Are you telling the truth?”
Lu Wenhui’s voice was soft, her eyes swirling with a storm, yet she struggled to restrain her impulses.
Song Jinyao felt quite satisfied.
Though her second daughter was young, she was capable of keeping secrets. It had been the right decision to reveal part of the truth to her.
This household was now like a den surrounded by wolves and tigers. Unlike prominent families with many capable servants to command, she needed an ally by her side.
Moreover, there would be many storms ahead, and she had to ensure her daughter matured quickly.
“Keep these matters to yourself for now. Do not tell your elder sister or brother. I fear they cannot hold their tongues and may ruin our plans.”
“As for the truth, observe carefully with your own eyes.”
“Remain calm. I am isolated and helpless now, and I need your assistance.”
“Mother? What should we do now? Do you truly intend to bury all the family assets as burial offerings?”
“Of course.” If they weren’t buried, how could she secretly replace and transfer the wealth?
Song Jinyao let out a cold laugh.
The moonlight outside was bright, and a cool breeze whispered through the air.
Song Jinyao stretched her stiff limbs and sat down on a stone stool beneath a tree.
Then, she continued softly, “I anticipated they would seek help from the clan elders.”
“Then why did you remind them in the Ling Tang to invite the elders tomorrow to make decisions?”
Why not catch them by surprise? Wouldn’t that prevent them from colluding in advance?
Lu Wenhui was confused, unable to grasp the reasoning behind Song Jinyao’s actions.
After all, the clan elders and her brothers were cut from the same cloth.
Song Jinyao sneered, “Don’t worry, I have my own arrangements.”
It was not yet time to expose Lu Xiuyuan’s feigned death.
In her previous life, she had seen the corpse—disfigured beyond recognition. Even if she were skilled in autopsy, she couldn’t prove Lu Xiuyuan was still alive in such a short time.
That shameless old man was still hiding somewhere. As long as she couldn’t find him, with her three ungrateful sons as witnesses, the world would dismiss her claims.
If she made a scene, outsiders would only say she had lost her mind from the shock.
Besides, the best outcome of causing a commotion would be Lu Xiuyuan being summoned back.
But did she still want a man like that?
The answer was clear!
She did not!
You have your strategies, and I have mine.
She would play along with their scheme and torment these scoundrels to death!
Song Jinyao’s lips curved slowly into a smile as she plotted her next move, her eyes gleaming brightly in the night.
Lu Wenhui shuddered violently.
Her mother had truly changed!
The next day, at the break of dawn, Song Jinyao indeed invited several clan elders.
However, aside from the elders, there was also an elderly Taoist priest, over sixty years old.
With white beard and eyebrows, he held a horsetail whisk and wore a dark blue Taoist robe adorned with the Eight Trigrams.
He embodied the immortal grace people often spoke of.
“Mother? Why have you brought a Taoist priest into our home?”
Upon seeing the priest, the three brothers felt a sudden unease, sensing that something was slipping beyond their control.
Song Jinyao shot them a disdainful glance. “After the torment you put your father through last night, shouldn’t I invite a priest to help him?”
The three were left speechless, unable to retort.
The third son was frantically winking at several clan elders he had approached the night before.
Song Jinyao pretended not to notice and led everyone into the courtyard.
“Ahem, Xiuyuan’s wife, we heard you plan to bury all your family possessions as burial goods? How could—”
The second elder cleared his throat, intending to steer the conversation to the main issue.
Having received generous gifts from Lu Yue, they naturally felt obliged to speak on his behalf.
Song Jinyao knew exactly what he was about to say and cut him off.
“Second Elder, I understand what you wish to say. However, the extinguishing of the Changming Lantern is no trivial matter. If mishandled, it could affect the fortune of our entire Lu clan. For the sake of all our clansmen, let us first allow the Taoist priest to examine the situation.”
“To be honest, I would never willingly sacrifice all our family wealth unless absolutely necessary. After all, with Xiuyuan gone, my child and I still need to eat!”
“But as a daughter-in-law of the Lu family, I cannot be so selfish. Let us wait until the Taoist priest determines whether there are any other remedies before we discuss this matter further, alright?”
Song Jinyao’s words were reasonable and well-grounded, appearing selfless and entirely for the benefit of the Lu clan. The elders found her speech quite pleasing to the ear.
Particularly her remark about potentially affecting the entire clan’s fortune struck fear into their hearts.
After a moment’s contemplation, the elders—who were originally brought by Lu Yue to advocate for him—found themselves nodding in agreement.
They expressed their approval: “Madam Song is right. Let the Taoist priest conduct his examination. Our Lu clan has many descendants—we cannot let this matter affect them.”
The three brothers listening on the side were dumbfounded, cursing inwardly.
You damned old fools! That’s not what you said before coming!
How could you let our mother lead you by the nose like this?
Song Jinyao sneered inwardly.
This was human nature—when their interests weren’t involved, anything was acceptable. But once their most cherished interests were at stake, even ten thousand taels of gold and kowtowing in gratitude meant nothing!
The key question was: did those three little beasts Lu Yue have ten thousand taels of gold?
The answer was obvious—no.
“So, does this mean the elders agree?”
“Yes, we agree, we agree!” the elders chimed in unison. Finally, the sixth elder added praise: “Madam Song truly lives up to her upbringing in a great family—so farsighted.”
“You boys should listen to your mother—she knows best, understand?”
Song Jinyao chuckled inwardly. She had known all along this was in the bag.
The Lu clan in Taihe Xian had flourished like a century-old banyan tree, with main and collateral branches intricately intertwined. Unfortunately, its magnificent blossoms bore nothing but useless sour fruit.
The eldest elder’s direct grandson had failed the provincial examinations five times in a row. The second elder’s youngest son had squandered the family fortune in business. Even the most accomplished cousin from a collateral branch only held the position of a Ninth-Rank Siyu in the county magistrate’s office.
As for the branch Song Jinyao married into through Lu Xiuyuan, they had been declining since her father-in-law’s generation. It was only after Song Jinyao entered the household that things gradually improved.
In short, not a single member of the Lu family had achieved anything remarkable.
A few years earlier, the clan elders had followed a feng shui master’s advice and relocated their ancestors’ graves. Only in recent years had a few promising youngsters emerged with potential to pass the imperial examinations. Otherwise, the old men of the Lu clan would probably be unable to keep their ancestors from turning in their graves.
The entire family, young and old, had been waiting with such desperate longing that their guts had turned green, praying for a wisp of auspicious smoke to rise from the ancestral graves. They hoped a literary star would descend among the recent generations, someone to polish the family’s prestige that had dimmed over a century of decline.
With such fervent expectations, how could they allow a mere funeral to disrupt the ancestral fortune!
Song Jinyao could only think: those three little brats were far too naive.
So when Lu Yue again started winking and making faces at the elders, a rather amusing scene unfolded—the elders simultaneously turned their gaze skyward, as if competing to see who could stare at the heavens longest.
Each had become a sky-gazing hound.