When Anning saw Scholar Wen, she immediately put on a surprised expression. "Dad, why have you come? Is there something wrong at home?" She had Scholar Wen sit down, then hurriedly served some tea and a selection of roasted nuts: "Let me tell my mother-in-law, and I’ll go back home with dad for a visit." Scholar Wen waved his hand: "Don’t panic, nothing is wrong at home. I heard about the troubles in your second brother’s family, so I came to have a look." The old master hurried over when he heard that Scholar Wen had arrived. Scholar Wen then consoled the old master: "My in-law, don’t panic. The child is already in this state; we cannot make it harder by showing our distress. Let’s take good care of him, and he will surely get better." The old master offered his thanks several times. Scholar Wen then took out five taels of silver: "Take this for now, the priority is to get treatment for the child." The old master was almost moved to tears. He did not accept the silver but declined: "It’s not that dire yet. I appreciate your kindness, my in-law, but please take the silver back. If one day we really have no money for medicine, then I’ll borrow from you." Scholar Wen didn’t insist, and instead handed the silver to Anning: "You keep it, buy something nutritious for the family to strengthen their health, and don’t wear yourself out." Anning said with a smile as she accepted it: "Dad loves me the most." Watching Anning’s clever smile, Scholar Wen felt a burst of relief: "Alright, your family is also very busy, so I won’t stay longer." The old master quickly went to see Scholar Wen out. At the door, Scholar Wen gave a few more instructions to the old master: "If the family is too busy to manage, let Daya bring the children over to my place. I can help look after them for a few days." The old master quickly expressed his gratitude, sincerely touched by Scholar Wen’s kindness. After seeing off Scholar Wen, the old master went back to the house to inform the Old Madam. The Old Madam repeatedly uttered prayers of thanks: "This is a blessing for our family. Such parents, hearing that their daughter’s family is having troubles, come right away to help, both financially and physically. Now I understand why my eldest son’s wife is so considerate. If the father is that good, how could the daughter be any less?" The old master wholeheartedly agreed: "You are right, the eldest son’s wife is really good." Just as the Old Madam was about to say more, the crying of Mrs. Feng came from outside the door. The Old Madam quickly went out to see, and saw Mrs. Feng cooking while crying. This made the Old Madam very angry. "Why are you crying? Second brother is not in serious trouble yet, and you’re already wailing. You even have the audacity to cry. Such low behavior! Your husband is injured, and to this day not a single person from your maternal home has visited. You made such a definitive statement with that. Your elder sister-in-law’s father, as soon as he heard Second brother was hurt, cared for the relationship and came to visit. He not only offered money but also help. What about your maternal home? Not even a fart." Mrs. Feng dared not speak, and her crying grew louder. The Old Madam, hands on her hips, scolded: "I’ll tell you what, tomorrow you go back to your maternal home and demand money. If you can’t bring money back, don’t bother returning at all. Our family cannot afford a daughter-in-law like you." Xu Zhiyong, listening inside the house to the Old Madam scolding Mrs. Feng, hurriedly said: "Mom, don’t be angry. Tell me anything wrong with Mrs. Feng, and I will teach her. Please, don’t damage your health over this." "I dare not damage my health; if I do, wouldn’t that be exactly what she wants?" The Old Madam spat and turned to return to the room, still cursing as she walked away: "Such dark-hearted scum, the worst kind indeed." Mrs. Feng, covering her face, wept for quite a while before hurriedly returning to her cooking. Xu Er Ya in the room also listened, her expression growing increasingly unpleasant. She knew that such days would continue on for a long time. Thinking about how Anning refused to divide the family property, Xu Er Ya was nearly gnashing her teeth in frustration. If they couldn’t divide the property, wouldn’t all her previous efforts have been wasted? She caused a scene and even broke Xu Zhiyong’s leg, but what was the outcome? The family didn’t get divided, and instead, Anning’s good reputation was bolstered; Xu Er Ya felt like she had lost both Lady and soldiers. Fresh chapters posted on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net The next day, as expected, the patriarch really did invite the clan elders to separate out the third branch. The patriarch didn’t go to extremes with the matter. He allotted several acres of land to the third branch and gave them the rammed earth houses that had been built earlier. Additionally, he took out five taels of silver from the public funds to help the third branch set up their household. With grim determination, the patriarch said to Xu Zhiqin, "Don’t complain about the money being too little. With your second brother in this condition, you’ll have more expenses in the future. You are brothers; you can’t let a few coins stop your brother from getting treated, right?" The patriarch had already been quite generous, and Xu Zhiqin naturally did not push his luck. In his heart, being granted his share of the family estate was more than enough for him. "Dad, why don’t you and mom come and live with us?" The patriarch waved his hand, "No, that won’t do. We’ll stay with your elder sister-in-law. As long as we, the elders, are there, we can support her, and besides, it’s only right for the main house to take care of the elderly. Even though your eldest brother is gone, Brother Ying is still here." Seeing that the patriarch was set on staying with the main branch, Xu Zhiqin said no more. After a few days, he tidied up the rammed earth houses and moved out with his family. Once the third branch moved out, the home seemed to have emptied out, suddenly becoming quiet, but also a bit too desolate. It took the patriarch and the Old Madam several days to adjust and find some energy. Now with the main house left with only widows and orphans, and with the second house in such a state, the patriarch and the Old Madam couldn’t afford any mishaps. They had to stay alive and well, otherwise, this family truly wouldn’t be able to carry on. Mrs. Feng made the Old Madam rush back to her maternal home to ask for money, but she returned the same afternoon. Upon her return, she wore a particularly poor expression. The Old Madam glanced at Mrs. Feng, "Did you get the money?" Mrs. Feng twisted her hands, "No, my family doesn’t have any money, my parents and brothers are barely able to afford their meals." The Old Madam scorned, "A nest of lazy good-for-nothings, none of them doing anything useful, as if they could afford meals. Mrs. Feng, you’re such a fool, fixated on supporting your natal family. Now that your man’s in this state, you can’t even produce one cent, very impressive. If I were cruel-hearted, I’d take this straight to the government office and accuse you of stealing the possessions of your husband’s family, and have you thrown into jail." Her words genuinely terrified Mrs. Feng. She fell to her knees with a thud, begging the Old Madam, "Mother, it’s all my fault, I was wrong. Mother, please forgive me. If I were really imprisoned, I might as well bash my head and die." After another scolding, the Old Madam sent Mrs. Feng off to do chores. Knowing she was in the wrong, Mrs. Feng didn’t dare to resist. She worked like her life depended on it every day, almost singlehandedly taking on all the household and field work, to the point of exhaustion, her children barely looked after. Gousheng, the youngest son of the second branch, ran out to play every day, turning wild after a few days. However, it was at this time that Xu Er Ya quietly recovered her health. Anning noticed that Xu Er Ya always paid special attention to Lan when she came out of the house and understood that Xu Er Ya probably had designs on Lan. Anning truly wanted to crack open Xu Er Ya’s skull to see what was stuffed inside. Was Xu Er Ya’s head filled with manure? Even in such dire straits, she still persisted in her delusion, scheming ways to harm the main branch. Since Xu Er Ya dared to harbor ill intentions, Anning naturally had to teach her a harsh lesson. Furthermore, Anning thought that if Xu Er Ya’s health recovered, she would only plan bad things; so she might as well keep her injured so that she wouldn’t have the time to harbor evil thoughts.