Mo Chenke sat on his horse and took a condescending glance at the people in the courtyard before fixating his eyes on the woman holding a 6 or 7-year-old girl. Although he hadnât seen her for seven years, he still recognized that this was the wife who he had only hastily married. This time, he could only aggrieve her.
âFrom the beginning, I didnât want to marry her. Since I didnât go to the government office to apply for a household registration, she is not considered my wife.â
In front of his wife, who was holding his daughter and looking over with a pale face, he took out a letter of divorce from his arms and threw it lightly on the ground. âFrom now on, we arenât a married couple. We are unrelated to each other.â
âGood!! Fine!!!â
Anyone who wasnât blind could see that Lin Shiheng was furious. His three sons, who were still in shock, quickly held him up. They were very worried that their father, who just woke up, would faint again.
âEldest Brother, donât do this. You want to sever ties with the Lins because thereâs no blood, but Eldest Sister-in-law didnât do anything wrong! Take her with you! How can she live in the future? Father was in a coma yesterday, and he just woke up today. Donât anger him, if you want to say something, say it properlyâŚâ
Mo Chenke sat on his horse and looked towards the woman who was holding the girlâs hand, her eyes red. Having blood relations made him want to take a closer look at his daughter, but at the thought of the daughter of the General, he gritted his teeth, calmed himself down and pulled the reins to control the horse and turn around.
Just as he was about to leave, Lin Shihengâs trembling voice came from behind him.
âSince you abandoned your wife and daughter and cut off relations with my Lins, I wonât keep you. But remember, Lin Guangyao of my Lins is dead! Even if you regret it in the future, I will never recognize you as a son again!â
Regret? His biological father is a Prince, and he was now leading the troops, with a lofty status, and will soon marry the daughter of a General. Why would he regret it?
Mo Chenke didnât even turn his head to talk back and rode off quickly with his men.
âFatherâŚâ
Looking at the dust raised by the horses, the Linâs yard fell silent. Mother Lin looked at her husband anxiously. She opened her mouth to calm him but didnât know what to say. The other sons and daughters-in-law didnât know what to say either. Raising someone elseâs son for more than 20 years or whatever, even if they are honest and sincere, they couldnât stand it.
Yet, compared to the Linsâ family who were still shocked and worried about Lin Shiheng, Lin Eldest Sister-in-law was paper white and full of despair. When her father-in-law still thought that her husband was his own son, she had to be driven back to her motherâs house. Now that he knew that her husband wasnât his child, would she be allowed to stay in the Linsâ?
And her daughter⌠If she had been driven out of the Linâs before, although her daughterâs life may not be as good, the Lins were still nice. So, even if her father-in-law was angry at her daughter, her uncles and aunts would take care of her.
But now, the husband gave her a paper of divorce, and also said that he wasnât the Linâs biological son, and that her daughter wasnât the Linsâ granddaughter at all. In this situation, even if her father-in-law still cared for her husband, he would never let their mother and daughter live here again.
If a person was divorced, she would be despised and ignored by her maternal family, but if she wanted to live, she can at least barely survive. But if she went back with her daughter, not to mention the maternal family unwilling to let her into the door, just the people around pointing at her, with no food and no money, how could she keep two women alive?
Lin Sister-in-law desperately remembered that her husband had given the Lins 1,200 taels of silver,, but never mentioned that she should be given some food. He clearly knew that the Lins wonât keep her in this situation, and her family wonât take in a divorced woman who brought a child. In this case, without silver and grain, she couldnât survive with her daughter with only a divorce letter.
Is that what heâs after? Itâs not enough to give them up, but to force them to die.
She only hated that she was too shocked and did not rush up and kneel down and beg him to take her daughter when the ruthless man left. But if he had meant to leave them for death, then even if she had begged, he wouldnât have stayed.
Originally, she thought that almost being kicked out of the house yesterday was already the most terrible thing in the world. But today, her world was flipped on its head.
This was what it was like to be plotted for death by a husband who should have been with her for a lifetime. Her eyes are full of tears, but she couldnât be bothered to think deeply about it anymore. She suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately.
âFather, Mother, please donât drive me away. Please, Eldest girl is still young. She will definitely die if driven out. I will do farm work in the fields and take good care of the family. I will do embroidery work as usual, and sell it in the county. Please donât drive us away⌠Eldest girl, hurry up, kowtow to grandpa.â
As she spoke, she took her daughter who was crying beside her and knelt down to kowtow to Lin Shiheng.
All three brothers were at a loss, and Lin Second Daughter-in-law panicked and quickly went up with her two sisters to help her up. However, Lin Eldest Sister-in-law knew that this was her daughterâs last chance to live, so she kept kowtowing on the ground and didnât get up no matter how hard they pulled.
Watching her forehead, which soon turned blue and started bleeding, Mother Lin, who never said a word, carefully spoke to her husband, âHusband, Wei girl has done a lot of work, and her maternal family had always treated her badly. Itâs summer, and itâs chaotic outside, you canât tell the good guys from the bad guys. Why donât we keep her here? You can count it as having a strong labor force.â
She came to escape the famine from the countryside, and was 2 years older than Lin Shiheng. At first, she traveled with her parents and siblings. Later, when they traveled, her younger brothers and sisters starved to death. Then, they were followed by her father. When others came to steal food, he was beaten until his leg was broken. He later caught a fever and died that night. Finally, her mother couldnât stand the hunger, so she jumped into the river to kill herself.
This period of fleeing the famine lasted for 6 years, so she was most afraid of starvation. When she was hungry, she would do anything to have a mouthful of food. Therefore, when her husband lacked a wife to run the house and asked to marry her, she didnât hesitate to agree to it.
After marrying her husband, she didnât like to talk, but she was very diligent. She cleaned her home inside and outside, and treated her stepson as her own. If her husband says east, she will never go west, because even after she had settled down for so many years, she was still the former famine escaper, who was satisfied as long as she could eat. She seldom expresses her opinions, and quietly doing things was fine for her. Yet, when she saw the bitter Lin Eldest Sister-in-law who was kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, she couldnât bear it.
As soon as Mother Lin opened her mouth, her three sons followed suit, âYes, Father. Now that there is a war outside, Sister-in-law canâ t survive with a child.â
âLetâs settle down first. At least Sister-in-law has been properly filial to you and Mother for these 7 years. In case she leaves our family and something happens outside, we would feel guilty.â
âFather, just help Sister-in-law.â
Lin Shiheng frowned and leaned against his third son. âSecond Daughter-in-law, help Eldest Daughter-in-law stand up.â
âYes!â
Lin Second Sister-in-law hastily responded, one hand holding the kowtowing Lin Sister-in-law, âSister-in-law, Father told you to get up. Quickly get up.â
Lin Sister-in-law hastily stood up, fearing that the slow movement would cause her father-in-law to dislike her even more. At the moment, her forehead was covered with soil and blood. In addition, the bruise was particularly shocking, but she didnât know it, as if she couldnât feel the pain. A pair of crying swollen eyes looked desperately, hopefully and cautiously at Lin Shiheng.
âRemember only this. Our familyâs Lin Guangyao is dead, he died in the battlefield, and there arenât even bones left. You are the widow of our Lin family in the future, remember?â
Is this a way to keep her and her daughter in the family? Lin Sister-in-law was overjoyed and nodded frantically, âIâll remember, Father. Iâll remember.â
Lin Shiheng did not look at her again, but beckoned his granddaughter, who was standing next to her mother with red eyes looking timidly at him, over, âEldest girl, come here.â
Lin Daniang is only 6 years old. Although she had never seen her father since she was born, and her grandfather disliked her because she was a girl, since he was neither hot nor cold to all the children in her family, Lin Daniang didnât feel that she had been treated differently. Besides, her uncles and aunts were kind to her, and her younger brothers and sisters loved to play with her, so her temperament was always lively.
But yesterday, her mother was almost driven out, which terrified her and she didnât know what to do. Coupled with everything she experienced today, these things together obviously scared her. At the moment, her pair of big eyes were full of tears, and at the urging of her mother, she hesitated and came up timidly.
Children in poor families mature early, and she understood things. She knew that her father didnât want her and her mother, and now she and her mother would likely be thrown out.
She canât cry. Grandpa doesnât like children crying. If he saw her crying, he would drive her and her mother out.
The little girl with tears on her face walked up to Lin Shiheng. Her eyes were full of tears, but she forced out a smile on her face. The young voice cried out with tears, âGrandpa, donât drive Daniang away. Daniang will catch bugs and feed chickens, sweep the yard, and send meals to uncles and auntsâŚâ
Lin Shiheng squatted down and reached out to dry the tears on his granddaughterâs face. âI wonât kick you out. Daniang, remember, your father is dead, and you are the granddaughter of the Lin family.â
Lin Daniang wiped her tears while nodding. âDaniang⌠remembers.â
Knowing that Lin Sister-in-law and Lin Daniang wouldnât be driven away, the Lin brothers and Mother Lin were relieved.
Lin Shiheng finished speaking to his granddaughter and stood up. âSecond child, Third child and Fourth child. Take your wives and move the silver into the house.â
âEh, yes!â
The three sons quickly responded and obediently moved the silver.
Fortunately, they lived in a remote area, and there werenât many neighbors around. Otherwise, if people saw that their family had so much silver, there was no guarantee that it wouldnât attract evil people.
If they had seen so much silver in the past, several people would have been happy. But now, the Lins clearly knew that the silver was earned by their elder brother breaking off relations with their father, so all three brothers felt sullen and didnât say a word.
Since childhood, they watched how their father put their eldest brother in his palm and loved him. They witnessed with their own eyes that their father rejected the silver and didnât want their eldest brother to break the relationship between father and son. All three of them couldnât feel happy. It was good to have silver, but if father was angry and kicked the bucket, their main backbone would be broken.
They were raised to be naĂŻve, but they were filial to him. At the moment, they were filled with the thoughts of how angry their father was, if he would be angry enough to hurt his body, and so on.
No amount of silver was as important as their father.
The three daughters-in-law were happy to see so much silver in their hearts, but they were all honest. No one offered to share the silver or anything. They only followed their husbands and carried the silver into the house in silence.
Lin Shiheng had been sitting in front of the table waiting for them. Lin Sister-in-law took her daughterâs hand but didnât dare to help. She was standing timidly in the corner. Mother Lin stood behind her husband and carefully put some water on the table. âHusband, drink some water.â
He picked it up and took a sip of it, his face still sullen. This scene made all the six people who came in feel their heart was tight. They all shrank their necks, bowed their heads, lowered their eyes, and put down their silver. No one dared to speak.
Lin Shiheng pounded his hand on the table and looked at the silver with heavy eyes.
âSecond, you go to inquire whether thereâs a bandit den nearby.â
âThird, you go to the county blacksmith shop to ask how much silver taels for an iron spear, the cheaper the better.â
âFourth, youâre fast. Go to the surrounding counties tomorrow. Find out how many people are rebelling now and what kind of armor theyâre wearing.â
The three sons didnât quite understand what he wanted to do. After agreeing to do so, they asked carefully, âFather, why are you asking about this?â
âThe armor worn by that bastard is not from our dynastyâs official army, so he must have followed a rebelling army. He even gave us 1,200 taels of silver, so he either has a high status now, or his father has a high status.â
The more he talked, the angrier he was. He slapped his hand on the table, and the table made a heavy and violent sound. The Lin family who were listening quietly were scared, they trembled and couldnât breathe normally because of the atmosphere.
However, they heard Lin Shiheng speak boldly, âI have only heard of a father abandoning his son, but I have never heard of a son abandoning his father. After raising him for so many years, I have raised such a white eyed wolf. If I donât smash this white eyed wolf into ten thousand pieces, I wonât die in peace!â
The Lin family was frightened by the angry head of the family. They all held their breath and didnât dare to make a sound.
âFourth, tomorrow, you go and find out which rebel army this bastard is in, then come back and tell me.â
âSecond daughter-in-law and Third daughter-in-law will go to the market tomorrow. Take two taels of silver and buy rice. Fourth daughter-in-law, take your mother to buy black cloth, enough for four people to wear, and then buy clothes for the whole family.â
The Lin family is confused about what the head of the family wanted to do, but they all agreed, not daring to make any excuses.
Lin Sister-in-law, standing in the corner, stood out carefully when she saw that her family had been assigned to work.
âFather, what can I do?â
âYou?â
Lin Shiheng turned to look at her.
He made no secret of why he left her out, and stated it without concealing anything.