Where did Xu Erya place the piece of gold she found? She didn’t keep it at home but instead placed it in the spiritual spring space. Originally, the piece of gold had some impurities and couldn’t be considered pure, but after Xu Erya soaked it in the spiritual spring, the gold became purer, and of course, its value increased. Xu Erya was thinking of using this piece of gold as capital to make a fortune after the family division. She always treasured it especially, fearing someone would discover it, thus she hid the gold in the space. However, who would have thought that Xu Erya would encounter someone like Anning, a big shot. To Anning, a spiritual spring space was nothing; if it were her peak period, she could create as many as she wanted. She could crush the system with her bare hands; taking something out of the spiritual spring space was really too easy for her. Of course, even if Anning didn’t take the gold from Xu Erya’s space, she could still frame her with her own silver. Anning confidently told the Old Madam that Xu Erya must have hidden something illicit. The Old Madam had always trusted Anning, so upon hearing this, she naturally became very spirited. That afternoon, just as Xu Erya had fallen asleep, the Old Madam, along with Anning who was burning with rage, stormed into her room. The Old Madam headed straight to a mouse hole, inspected it, and indeed, it seemed someone had tampered with it. She took a thin stick and fiddled inside the hole for a while, and indeed, she fished out a piece of gold. Having obtained the gold, the Old Madam was furious; she went up to Xu Erya and slapped her awake. "Shameless thing, you truly are rotten to the core, hiding gold and not giving it to your own father, forcing the whole family to beg? Your aunt toiled day and night for your family, yet you sleep soundly with the gold." This commotion caused by the Old Madam startled the master and Mrs. Feng, and the entire household rushed into Xu Erya’s room. Xu Erya hadn’t fully woken up yet, still a bit dazed, she covered her face and pleaded, "Grandma, what are you saying? I don’t understand?" Seeing Xu Erya got hit again, Mrs. Feng hurried over to protect her. "Mother, Erya has been staying in her room for the past two days and hasn’t gone out; she didn’t cause any trouble, why, why are you hitting her?" Faced with Mrs. Feng’s accusation, the Old Madam grew even angrier, stamping her feet and scolding: "Like mother, like daughter, you are a backstabber, and your daughter is no different." Anning coughed twice to remind the Old Madam: "Don’t involve Daya in this." The Old Madam then changed her tone: "Look at the mess Erya has made." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net She held up the gold high: "This is what I found in her room; look, this thief hid such a big piece of gold and said nothing. It would’ve been fine normally, but now her father has a broken leg, she clearly knows the family is struggling, her father can barely afford his medicine, yet she kept it so well hidden, watching her aunt toil into the night without saying a word, she clearly wants to drive us all to our deaths." The Old Madam grew more heartbroken for Anning: "You’re just too honest; why be so good-hearted when her own daughter doesn’t care, yet you worry so much for the second branch of the family; you are too foolish." Anning bowed her head, making a wronged face, and sobbed softly. Xu Daya looked at Xu Erya in shock, then at Anning: "Aunt, is this, is this true?" Anning nodded: "Yes, I came with Mother to search." Xu Daya burst into tears with a loud cry, slapped Xu Erya across the face: "How could you do this, do you have no heart? I want to beat you to death, you heartless wretch. Look at the state our father is in, you, you have money, why not use it for the family? Do you know what Aunt has been forced into for the sake of medical expenses? I’ve even thought about selling myself to serve as a servant, yet you remain indifferent; Xu Erya, I... I don’t have a sister like you." At this point, Mrs. Feng also stopped protecting Xu Erya. She also looked accusingly at Xu Er Ya: "Erya, do you not have a heart?" Anning, covering her face, cried a few times, then pointed at Mrs. Feng and scolded: "Don’t pretend in front of me. I don’t believe you didn’t know about Xu Er Ya hiding the gold. She’s been injured, lying in bed all day unable to move; how could she have hidden the gold without help? Sister-in-law, I treated you and your family with all my heart, and this is how you repay me? Was all my kindness fed to the dogs?" "I didn’t, it wasn’t me." Mrs. Feng trembled with fear. She waved her hands repeatedly: "I really didn’t know." But the Old Madam believed Anning’s words. She grabbed a stick and began to beat Mrs. Feng: "Oh, so you dared to do such a thing, you ungrateful wretch, you family-ruining woman, it must have been you who taught Erya to hide the gold. You probably wanted to send the gold to your maternal home. Poor my second son treats you so well, and yet he raised such an ingrate like you." After beating Mrs. Feng, the Old Madam went to beat Xu Er Ya. "Your mother isn’t a Xu, our Xu Family whether dead or alive she doesn’t care about, but you are a Xu. You don’t even care about your own father, are you even human? I’ll beat you to death, you family-destroying wretch..." If it had been before, when Xu Er Ya was beaten, Lan and Brother Ying would probably be scared, maybe even thinking about pleading for Xu Er Ya. But this time, the two children just stood by and watched coldly. The children were young, but they were already sensible. These past few days, they saw their own mother sighing over issues of the second branch and watched how Anning worked hard to earn money. They truly felt sorry for Anning, but the second branch was also their family; they couldn’t just tell Anning to ignore the affairs of the second branch. Especially Brother Ying, he even gave up the opportunity to study further because of the second branch. Xu Er Ya had such a big piece of gold, completely enough for the expenses of the second branch, yet she said nothing, just watching as her own family gave up their good life before and struggled to save money for the second branch. To save money, their mother not only worked overnight but even sold her dowry jewelry. Thinking of this, Brother Ying looked at Xu Er Ya with a hint of coldness in his eyes. "Our family is kind-hearted, but you can’t bully us ." Anning cried bitterly: "When my father heard that my younger brother broke his leg, he immediately sent over five taels of silver, I didn’t keep a penny, all was spent on medicine, I even sold my jewelry, used up many years of savings to buy medicine, but you... you probably are laughing at me behind my back, thinking how stupid I am." The Old Madam also felt upset listening to Anning’s cries. Wasn’t she also the one being kept in the dark, perhaps laughed at as foolish? The old master already trembled with anger. Anning continued her accusations: "Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You probably just want to drain our family’s savings, then burden me to ruin my health while working, and later pitifully say you don’t want to drag down the family, crying and shouting for a separation, at that time we still have to remember your kindness, while you can take the gold and leave to live a good life, but we will have to beg for a living, isn’t this your heart’s intent?" At first, the old master had not considered this, but now hearing Anning say this, he was startled. He thought what Anning was saying might really be the truth. The second branch must have such intentions. He looked at Mrs. Feng and Xu Er Ya with even more disapproval. "We must divide the family." Anning shouted sternly: "I don’t want to be deceived anymore, I don’t want to be a fool anymore, I may let go of the money I took earlier, I don’t even want the gold, I just want to sever ties with you people of crooked thoughts, lest my children also get dragged down by you." The Old Madam hit Xu Er Ya with a stick: "We must divide the family, this time I decide, it must be done, divide immediately."