‘Stop arguing already… sob… save them first!’
As she spoke, Luo Shi plopped onto the ground and grabbed the hem of Wen Ye’s skirt, crying.
‘Ye’er, it was the second branch that plotted against you. It’s fine if you pushed Liyue out instead, but my Mei is innocent! Our branch knew nothing about this!’
Wen Ye sneered.
‘The second branch didn’t let you participate this time because you’re stupid. Do you believe that if they had succeeded, you’d have happily helped count the money?’
Luo Shi choked on her words.
There was no “if” about it—she absolutely would have.
‘Besides, even if you weren’t involved this time, what about last time? Weren’t you pretty enthusiastic about selling my sister?’
‘Quit your nonsense and tell me where Mei is!’ Wen Lao Da shouted angrily, stepping forward.
Wen Ye laughed coldly.
‘Want to know? Split the family!’
The faces of the first and second branches darkened.
Old Madam Wen gritted her teeth.
‘Didn’t we already say we’d split the family after Chengwen and the others return?’
‘Who are you fooling? We’re doing it right now!’
Old Madam Wen’s expression changed drastically. She could no longer keep up the pretense.
‘In your dreams!’
Unexpectedly, Wen Ye merely shrugged indifferently and sighed.
‘In my dreams? Fine, then I won’t dream about it anymore. You’ve been treating our third branch like oxen and horses and having a wonderful time. Wen Mei and Wen Liyue are probably having a wonderful time in the brothel too. Hehe, what a profitable deal!’
Mrs. Fang’s vision went black, her heart aching unbearably.
Yue’er! Her Yue’er…
‘Split the family! Split the family!!’ The moment Luo Shi thought about her daughter’s situation, she nearly went insane.
Wen Ye continued,
‘And with Wen Chengwen and Wen Chengwu’s biological sister becoming a prostitute in a brothel, I wonder if they’ll still be able to pass the county examination and become scholars. Hahaha!’
‘This way, the futures of both your sons and daughters are all perfectly arranged. One move, four gains!’
Pfft!
Old Madam Wen could no longer hold it in and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Her trembling finger pointed at Wen Ye.
‘Y-you… Fine! We’ll split! We’ll split the family!’
Nothing was more important than the future of her two precious grandsons.
Mrs. Fang and Wen Lao’er collapsed onto the ground, crying bitterly. Though unwilling, their children’s futures were being held hostage, and they had no choice.
‘Good!’ Wen Ye beamed and loudly announced, ‘From today onward, our third branch officially separates from the old household!’
She didn’t take the opportunity to demand anything else or sever family ties completely.
Because the separation had been her idea. Even though she currently held the Old Wen family’s lifeline in her hands, if she also demanded to cut ties and ask for more property, the village head and villagers who sympathized with them might immediately turn against her and side with Old Madam Wen.
Even when the second branch and Old Madam Wen were clearly at fault, there would always be people who thought, “Although… still…”
Cutting ties would have to be done slowly.
When the people of the third branch heard that they could finally separate from the family, their eyes reddened and their emotions became complicated.
Especially Wen Lao San. At this moment, his feelings were indescribably painful and complicated.
He had never imagined that his own family had been deceiving him all along and plotting against his branch so thoroughly.
‘We’ve agreed to split the family, so tell me where Mei is!’ Luo Shi cried. ‘If you don’t tell us soon, it’ll be too late…’
Too late, and she’d already be in the brothel!
‘Then hurry and sign a family separation agreement. Bring paper and a brush,’ Wen Ye said.
Luo Shi immediately ran into her son’s room and soon returned with some old writing supplies.
Wen Ye turned around and happened to see Village Chief Wen approaching.
‘Grandpa Village Chief, please write a family separation document for us.’
‘All right.’ He nodded, then frowned. ‘But how exactly will this family be divided?’
Old Madam Wen gritted her teeth.
‘They’re the ones insisting on splitting the family. I won’t give the third branch a single mu of land, a single copper coin, or even one egg. If they’re willing, they can get out right now. I don’t want to see such unfilial descendants ever again.’
When Wen Lao San heard the words “unfilial descendants,” his heart ached.
The villagers looked at the third branch with pity.
‘No money is one thing, but not even any land? How are they supposed to survive?’
Village Chief Wen frowned.
‘Aunt Liao, no matter what, they’re still your own son and grandchildren. You should at least give them two mu of land.’
‘Either we don’t split at all, or they get not a single mu!’ Old Madam Wen said hatefully.
The villagers looked sympathetically at the third branch.
Village Chief Wen sighed softly and looked at Wen Lao San.
‘How about not splitting up for now?’
To farmers, land was life.
Without land, it meant they might never be able to turn their lives around.
Wen Lao San felt bitter inside, but when he looked at his two beautiful daughters, he gritted his teeth.
‘We’ll split.’
Lin Shi’s face was pale, but she nodded firmly.
‘We don’t want anything… We only want to separate from the family.’
Ever since hearing that they had once again plotted against her two daughters, Lin Shi had been completely shattered inside.
She wanted to leave the old house immediately.
Even if they starved to death, they would leave!
Village Chief Wen sighed deeply.
‘Duocai and Duoliang, you two should say something as well.’
He was referring to Wen Lao Da and Wen Lao’er—their actual names. Wen Lao San’s real name was Wen Duoshi.
The two men nodded with dark expressions.
‘If Mother says split, then we’ll split.’
Village Chief Wen had written many family separation agreements before, so he quickly finished it.
Wen Ye picked it up and looked it over. There were no problems.
The document was made in triplicate. Old Madam Wen, the three Wen brothers, and their wives all pressed their fingerprints on it, and the agreement officially took effect.
Village Chief Wen announced,
‘From this day on, Wen Duoshi officially separates from the family and establishes his own household. Later, both families can come to me to update the household registration.’
Wen Lao San repeatedly nodded.
‘Yes, yes, yes.’
Mrs. Fang and the others watched as the Wen sisters escaped from their grasp just like that. They were unwilling to accept it, but more important matters were at hand.
‘Now can you tell us? Where is Yue’er?’ Mrs. Fang asked through gritted teeth.
As Wen Ye happily put away the family separation document, she said,
‘I heard one of the traffickers say that a new brothel had opened in Xindong County, and the prices there were several taels higher than in our Sheng’an County. They wanted to take the girls there to sell them.’
‘But the other trafficker said he must have remembered wrong and that there was no new brothel at all. The first one, however, refused to give up and insisted on going to take a look.’
She spread her hands.
‘If there really isn’t a new brothel in Xindong County, the traffickers should be on their way back by now. There’s only one road between here and Xindong County. If you go block the road now, you should be able to find them.’
She remembered that in the novel, there was only one brothel, Wanhua House, among all these counties, so there couldn’t possibly be one in Xindong County.
Mrs. Fang’s head buzzed with anger.
No wonder they couldn’t find anyone no matter how hard they searched—those people had gone to Xindong County.
Wen Ye claimed that the two traffickers had decided to go there on their own, but she didn’t believe a single word.
Wen Ye must have tricked them into going there so they wouldn’t be found.
That little bitch had played them all for fools.