Jing City?
Song Jinyao was stunned.
She wasn’t at all surprised that Xuanhe, being a man of profound insight, could discern she was a reborn person.
But it had been over twenty years since she left the capital.
If she included her previous life, it was far more than twenty years—closer to sixty.
To her, Jing City felt as distant as a fleeting dream.
Since her rebirth, she had contemplated revenge and how to live a better life, but returning to the capital had never crossed her mind.
Back then, she had just turned fifteen when the Song Family was suddenly struck by disaster. The memory of how their family had fled Jing City in disgrace remained vivid to this day.
Proud and concerned with face, she would rather remain in this small place than return to the capital and suffer humiliation.
Thus, in both lifetimes, she had never considered going back.
But now, with Xuanhe’s words, Song Jinyao couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Perhaps she should give it some thought.
For a moment, her mind was flooded with thoughts, but before she could ponder further, her second daughter came out into the yard looking for her.
“Mother, I saw Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother hiding in the room. I don’t know what they’re plotting.”
Lu Wenhui spoke urgently, convinced her three brothers were up to no good.
Hearing this, Song Jinyao’s expression darkened slightly, but she showed little reaction.
With the family fortune used as burial goods, how could those ungrateful wretches simply let it go?
It was no surprise they were scheming something malicious.
She had never expected those sons of hers to back down anyway.
Perhaps it was for the best—she could use their schemes against them. Once she dealt with these scoundrels, she would be free of attachments and could focus on planning her return to the capital.
“Leave them be for now. Once your eldest sister arrives, have her and your eldest brother handle your father’s funeral arrangements. You come with me to the brokerage.”
“Alright, Mother. I’ll go inform Eldest Brother right away.” Since learning her father’s death was a sham, Lu Wenhui no longer felt any grief.
A father who would abandon his wife and children, fake his death, and elope with a widow outside brought her nothing but shame and anger.
Although her mother hadn’t treated her and her sisters well in the past, she never lied. Without needing proof, Lu Wenhui had already chosen to believe Song Jinyao.
Were her three brothers accomplices?
And now they sought to swindle the family’s wealth?
She, Lu Wenhui, was no pushover. From now on, she would stand by her mother’s side.
The young girl bit her lip, her eyes shining with determination, looking every bit like a general ready to charge into battle.
But her eldest brother was still drowning in sorrow. She would have to gently hint at the truth, ensuring he didn’t grieve too deeply and harm his health.
That scum of a father wasn’t worth it!
With this thought, Lu Wenhui hurried back into the residence.
Watching her second daughter run off, Song Jinyao felt a wave of relief.
Fortunately, while her eldest son kept his distance from her and his three brothers, he didn’t reject his two sisters or his youngest, simple-minded brother.
Perhaps she could still change his perception of her.
That child—she had wronged him deeply in her previous life. In this life, she ought to treat him better.
What Xuanhe had left her was an eighteen-bead bodhi bracelet. Its color was deep yet clear, and it felt as smooth and cool as jade to the touch—clearly no ordinary treasure.
Song Jinyao cherished it dearly. She gently rubbed it a few times before fastening it carefully around her wrist.
After breakfast, mourners began to arrive one after another.
Her eldest daughter, Lu Wenyin, arrived promptly.
Dressed in plain white mourning robes, she stepped down from the carriage, her eyes red as if she had been crying.
Her son-in-law hadn’t come, citing prior engagements, but promised to arrive in time for the burial two days later.
“Yin’er.” Song Jinyao called out hoarsely, her voice low.
“Daughter pays respects to Mother.” Standing a meter away, Lu Wenyin softly greeted Song Jinyao with a curtsy.
Song Jinyao nodded, her eyes slightly moist.
After two lifetimes apart, she genuinely missed her eldest daughter, noticing how she seemed thinner and more weary.
But with countless urgent matters demanding her attention, she had no time to exchange more than a few words with her eldest daughter.
Moreover, their relationship had always been formal yet distant over the years, leaving Song Jinyao momentarily unsure how to express her regret and concern.
She thought to herself that once the pressing matters were settled, she would find time to bond privately with her eldest daughter. Given the major family incident, her daughter was sure to stay home for several days anyway.
Soon after, Song Jinyao busied herself with receiving guests.
Funerals often carry an air of misfortune, so most visitors didn’t linger long. By noon, the crowd had thinned, leaving the eldest son and eldest daughter to manage what remained.
Seizing a free moment, Song Jinyao took the property deeds and led her second daughter to the brokerage firm.
“Madam? Are you truly selling at this price? If so, there’s no need to wait for a buyer—our firm can purchase it directly.”
Having dealt with this brokerage before, Song Jinyao knew they were straightforward. “To be honest,” the agent said, “your price is below market value. We could make over ten percent profit reselling it.”
“No matter. You’re entitled to your profit. I’m pressed for time and understand how these transactions work,” Song Jinyao affirmed with a nod.
She owned three shops, ten acres of fertile land, three residences, and a large dyeing workshop—all assets accumulated through hard work over the past two years.
In her rush to sell, she couldn’t expect top prices.
But Song Jinyao felt no regret.
Originally, she had intended these for her three biological sons.
That’s why she had acquired the shops and properties in sets of three.
Yet, having lived through a previous life, she thought, rather than letting those ingrates benefit and later betray her with the wealth, she’d sell everything clean.
Otherwise, those rascals would never give up and would pester her endlessly.
She still possessed dyeing skills; once family troubles were resolved, she could always start anew elsewhere.
The total proceeds from the assets came to fifteen thousand taels.
Fifteen thousand taels—for an ordinary family living frugally, it could last a lifetime. Even for a respectable household in Jing City, excluding social expenses and property maintenance, five hundred taels a year sufficed for all living costs.
Of course, this paled in comparison to her past. In her days as a noble lady in the capital, she had once spent three thousand taels on a single hairpin.
Money is a wonderful thing, yet it can also be a curse.
Since her rebirth, she had often wondered: did her sons turn so selfish and cold-blooded because of money, or had she failed in raising them?
Perhaps both.
As the family’s fortunes improved over the past two years, hearts had changed.
But no one knew the sleepless nights and meticulous planning it had taken to build this estate.
So many in this world can share prosperity but not hardship, or endure hardship but not prosperity.
Regardless, she had reached this point. Those rotten to the core, she couldn’t change—so she would change herself.
“Please have someone escort us back with this silver.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll send two strong workers to accompany you home right away.” The shopkeeper was very agreeable. With so much silver, it would be truly unsafe for two women to carry it back alone.
Song Jinyao didn’t take all of it in silver notes. She specifically had the brokerage prepare a portion in cash silver. This silver was intended for “burial offerings”—items buried in the earth naturally couldn’t all be paper silver notes, as that would be too fake.
Upon returning home, the three sons nearly fainted upon learning that Song Jinyao had indeed sold off the family assets.
“Mother? Even for an elaborate funeral, is it necessary to sell off the entire family estate? Isn’t the cash silver at home enough? Must you sell these properties? And even if you sell, you should at least have kept the most profitable cloth shop!”
The fourth son beat his chest in despair. He had been eyeing the cloth shop from the very beginning.
The family had built its fortune on the cloth shop, and it remained the most profitable venture.
If he had known it would come to this, he wouldn’t have fought with his third brother over it. If he had let his third brother have it, he could at least have skimmed some benefits.
But now, it was like the egg thief getting pecked by the eagle—a total loss!
Everything had gone down the drain!
Song Jinyao wore a stern expression and slapped the sale receipts in front of her three sons.
“Remember, I’m cleaning up your mess. You feel heartache? I feel it even more than you do!”
As she spoke, Song Jinyao couldn’t resist slapping the fourth son again.
“Instead of whining here, why don’t you go inside and relieve your eldest brother so he can have a bite to eat?”
“To make up for your mistakes, the remaining two days and nights of vigil will be handled by the three of you brothers. If you let the lamp go out again, watch your hides!”
The fourth son covered his face, his eyes wide with disbelief. Why had Mother hit him again?
He turned to look for his second and third brothers—it wasn’t just his fault, so why was he the only one getting beaten?
But when he glanced back, he realized the two brothers had already shrewdly slipped away.
Song Jinyao also felt regretful that she hadn’t managed to give the other two little brats a beating as well.
But now wasn’t the time for regrets. She had more important matters to attend to.
After Song Jinyao entered the room, the sound of dismantling the house echoed from inside.
“Clang, clang—” it went on incessantly.
Though curious, the people in the courtyard didn’t dare to go in and look.
Not long after, the door opened again, and Song Jinyao began throwing out bundles of miscellaneous items from inside.
Lu Wenhui stepped closer to take a look and couldn’t help but twitch her lips.
Everything thrown out belonged to her father, Lu Xiuyuan—clothes, hats, shoes, socks, and daily necessities piled up into a small hill in front of the door.
It seemed her mother was determined not to let her father step foot inside again.
Lu Wenhui curled her lips and kicked the small pile on the ground.
Well, if a father like that were to come back to life, she wouldn’t acknowledge him either.
“You three, come here.”
After clearing out all of Lu Xiuyuan’s belongings from the room, Song Jinyao finally felt somewhat relieved. Out of sight, out of mind—she found that shameless, unscrupulous man’s things revolting.
Catching her breath, she called out to the three dazed ingrates.
“Throw these things into the brazier and burn them for your father. Make sure they’re completely burned, so he doesn’t freeze over there.” Her words were laced with sarcasm, dripping with mockery.
But the three bewildered ingrates failed to grasp it.
“Hui’er, have your eldest brother keep an eye on those three while they burn everything clean. Then go check what Fang Momo has cooked and quickly bring some to my room. Remember to pack more.”
Song Jinyao spoke with some urgency, and as she finished, she ducked back into her room.
In her previous life, she had frozen to death while searching for food, making her half a hungry ghost. On top of that, since her rebirth last night, she had been busy nonstop and only had a bit of thin porridge for breakfast—she was absolutely starving.
No matter how big the world is, filling her stomach comes first.
Only with a full belly would she have the strength to deal with those three troublemakers.
No, make that four!