“Separate the family.”
Old Man Lu made the decision immediately.
He understood his three sons very clearly. The eldest son was honest and obedient—he did whatever he was told. The eldest daughter-in-law did not talk much, but she was hardworking.
The second son was honest enough, but the second daughter-in-law was not. She was lazy, greedy, and now it turned out she even stole things. Old Man Lu would never allow such a person to remain around his daughter.
As for the third son, he was pursuing the imperial examinations. Normally, he and his wife lived in the prefectural city and only returned during busy farming seasons or holidays.
The reason Old Man Lu had never separated the family before was because he wanted his sons to help support Qianqian. But now things were different. Qianqian was no longer the same as before, and the things she would do in the future would all be major matters. If there were people dragging her down, Old Man Lu absolutely would not allow it.
When a tree grows large, its branches naturally split apart. It was perfectly normal. The only issue was that if the old couple did not live with the eldest son, the villagers would definitely gossip about them. But let them gossip. The two of them would simply live with their daughter instead.
“Old man…” Old Madam Lu started to speak, wanting to say something.
Old Man Lu raised his hand to stop her.
“When the tree grows large, the branches divide. Now that they all have families of their own, staying together will only create more problems. As for the second branch, call him over here.”
The family would be divided, but there were still things that needed to be clarified so that later he would not feel that his parents had wronged him.
Seeing that her husband had already made up his mind, Old Madam Lu no longer felt upset. For all these years she had always favored her daughter anyway. Now that they would truly live together with their daughter, so be it.
The moment Lu Zhengjun entered, he knelt before Old Madam Lu.
“Dad, Zhaodi knows she was wrong. I’ll definitely teach her properly in the future.”
Old Man Lu did not speak immediately. He simply stared at him silently. Old Madam Lu sat to the side without saying a single word.
The atmosphere made Lu Zhengjun even more panicked.
“Dad, Zhaodi really knows she was wrong. She’ll never do something like this again. If she does, I’ll beat her to death myself the first time.”
“If you could actually control that wife of yours, then pigs might fly,” Old Madam Lu snapped. She did not believe a word from Lu Zhengjun. She knew her son’s temperament far too well.
“Mom, she won’t. Zhaodi definitely won’t do this again.”
Lu Zhengjun truly did not know what else to do. After this incident, Zhaodi’s life in the household would certainly become difficult. His parents already had a bad opinion of her, and the entire village had witnessed the disgrace. What family would tolerate a daughter-in-law who stole from her own sister-in-law?
At that moment, Old Man Lu finally spoke.
“Have you thought this through? What your wife did shows she never respected us at all. Do you really think apologizing is enough?”
From the few sentences Lu Zhengjun had spoken after entering, Old Man Lu had already become disappointed in his second son.
“Dad, I promise Zhaodi won’t do it again. I’ll keep an eye on her too.” Lu Zhengjun thought his father was about to forgive them and hurriedly gave his assurances.
Old Man Lu glanced at his kneeling second son and called out toward the outside.
“Eldest.”
Since something had happened in the family, everyone had been paying attention to the main room. Hearing Old Man Lu’s voice, Lu Zhengguo quickly entered.
“Dad.”
Old Man Lu did not explain much. He only said one sentence.
“Go to the prefectural city and bring the third branch back.”
Both Lu Zhengguo and Lu Zhengjun looked at Old Man Lu in confusion, wondering why the third son had to be called back.
“Alright.”
Though confused, Lu Zhengguo obediently went to carry out the task.
After Lu Zhengguo left, Old Man Lu also dismissed Lu Zhengjun.
Watching his two sons leave, Old Madam Lu shook her head.
“All of them are ungrateful ingrates. Not a single one gives any peace of mind.”
Because of this incident, the Lu family remained unusually quiet the entire day. No one even dared speak loudly.
When Lu Zhenghui and Chen Xin returned with Lu Zhengguo, the atmosphere at home was exactly like this.
The couple exchanged glances. On the way back, Lu Zhenghui had already asked his eldest brother why their father suddenly wanted him to return home.
Normally, if nothing important had happened, their parents would never send someone to summon him back.
His eldest brother had explained what Liu Zhaodi had done, leaving both Lu Zhenghui and Chen Xin shocked.
Lu Zhenghui rarely interacted with this second sister-in-law. He spent most of his time at the academy and only stayed home for a day or two whenever he returned, so hearing that Liu Zhaodi had done something like this truly stunned him.
Chen Xin, however, was much calmer. Though surprised, she also found it understandable. With Liu Zhaodi’s personality, such a thing was entirely possible.
After the couple returned, they headed straight into the main room. The rest of the second branch was also summoned over by Old Man Lu.
Lu Qianqian sat quietly beside Old Madam Lu. She was the only one who knew what was about to happen, so she obediently acted like a good child and waited for her father to handle things.
“Dad, why did you ask eldest brother to bring us back? Did something happen?” Lu Zhenghui asked directly before Old Man Lu could speak.
Old Man Lu swept his gaze around the room. Other than the younger children, who had not been called over, everyone in the family was present.
“I gathered all of you here today because I have something to announce.”
Lu Zhengguo and the others exchanged glances but remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
“Your mother and I have raised all of you until now, and we’ve done our duty. You’re all grown now and each have families of your own. As parents, we won’t drag you down anymore. From now on, each family will live separately. Every year, you only need to give us some filial support.”
As soon as Old Man Lu finished speaking, all three sons were shocked.
“Dad, you want to divide the family?” Lu Zhenghui’s eyes widened in disbelief. Although he rarely stayed at home, he had never once thought about splitting the household. Yet now his father was proposing it himself.
Lu Zhengguo and Lu Zhengjun’s branch were equally stunned.
Ever since returning to the Lu family, Liu Zhaodi had been extremely anxious. But now, hearing Old Man Lu speak of dividing the family, her eyes suddenly lit up. If the family truly split apart, then what she had done would simply pass over.
“Dad, we’re not splitting the family,” Lu Zhengguo said immediately.
Lu Zhengjun nodded. “Dad, I don’t want to split the family either.”
Old Madam Lu snorted coldly. “Why not split? So we can keep relying on you ungrateful wolves who side with outsiders? This family must split, and the two of us old folks will live with Qianqian.”
“Mom!” Lu Zhengguo was even more shocked. That would make the villagers criticize him behind his back. As the eldest son, how could there be any logic in letting an unmarried daughter support her parents?
Lin Gui had kept her head lowered silently the whole time. In truth, she was willing to separate the family. Who wouldn’t want to live a better life for themselves? With several households living together, all the money earned was handed over to the mother-in-law, leaving her with no say at all.
The children were still young now, but in a few years they would grow up. She also wanted to make plans for her two sons.
But when she heard her mother-in-law say that the two elders intended to live with Qianqian, she finally raised her head in shock and stared at them.