A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

After wailing for a while, Chen Shuyan suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of Old Man Chen with a "plop," kowtowing repeatedly.

"Grandpa! I know I was wrong! It's all my fault. I didn't discipline my mother properly, which led to this disaster! But my mother has been sentenced to death, and I've become the son of a murderer. My life is over! I beg you, for the sake of my father being imprisoned as well, and for the sake of my grandmother, please let me send her to her final resting place! Let me fulfill this last act of filial piety!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed, and his forehead quickly became red and swollen.

Some soft-hearted villagers began to whisper among themselves.

"Sigh, in the end, he's just a pitiful person."

"Yes, Mother killed Grandmother, so he'll only ever be a scholar in this lifetime."

Looking at his grandson kneeling on the ground, sobbing with snot and tears streaming down his face, Old Chen's deathly expression finally showed a flicker of emotion. His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something.

Wang Jinzhu stepped forward and stood between Old Man Chen and Chen Shuyan.

"Chen Shuyan." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, instantly drowning out all the whispers. "You're only now thinking about fulfilling your filial duties? Too late."

Chen Shuyan looked up at her, her eyes brimming with tears: "Sister-in-law, I know you have a prejudice against us, but Grandma..."

"Shut up!" Wang Jinzhu interrupted him sharply. "You have no right to call her Grandma! Her body is barely cold, and you're already putting on this show for whom? For the villagers, to salvage your reputation as a 'filial son'? Or for my grandfather, hoping to soften his heart and squeeze some benefits out of our eldest son's family to grease palms for your father?"

Every word and phrase pierced Chen Shuyan's heart like a knife.

The grief on his face froze instantly, replaced by a flash of embarrassment and resentment at being exposed.

Wang Jinzhu didn't give him a chance to explain and continued, "The day your mother poisoned you, she also came to invite us. Why didn't we go? Because we knew that a weasel paying respects to a chicken was up to no good! And you? Your mother specially made braised pork for you, why didn't you go back? Was it because the academy was busy? Or was it because you secretly despised your mother, who had just been released from prison, and were afraid she would embarrass you, a scholar?"

"I didn't!" Chen Shuyan retorted sharply, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Whether you've done it or not, you know it in your heart!" Wang Jinzhu sneered, pointing at the coffin. "You're crying here now only to cry about your ruined future! To cry because no one will ever be your slave again, letting you suck blood with a clear conscience! Stop with your hypocritical act, it's disgusting!"

After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

The villagers' gazes toward Chen Shuyan changed from sympathy to contempt.

Chen Shuyan's face flushed red and then turned pale. All his pretense had been shattered by Wang Jinzhu and exposed to the light of day.

Just then, Old Man Chen, who had been silent all along, stood up shakily, leaning on his cane.

He walked up to Chen Shuyan and looked down at his once most beloved grandson.

"Jinzhu is right."

When Old Chen spoke, his voice was so hoarse it sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"Go." He raised his cane, pointing towards the village entrance. "From today onwards, I, Chen Dequan, have no grandson like you. Our eldest branch and your second branch are completely severed! Whether your father lives or dies, whether your mother is buried or not, is none of our business! From now on, don't mention your surname as Chen!"

These words are harsher than any beating or scolding.

This means severing ties with them!

Chen Shuyan suddenly raised his head, looking at the old man in disbelief: "Grandpa! How...how could you be so heartless! I'm your only scholarly grandson!"

"Pah!" Old Chen spat a mouthful of phlegm in front of him. "I'd rather the Chen family had been peasants for generations than have a scholar like you with a heart as black as a nut! Get out!"

He used all his strength to utter the last word, "get out."

Chen Shuyan collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.

Wang Jinzhu didn't even bother to look at him again, and said to Wang Tianfang and the others, "It's time to go."

"Lift the coffin!"

The group bypassed Chen Shuyan, who was lying on the ground, and headed towards the back mountain.

Chen Shuyan sat on the cold ground, listening to the receding footsteps of the funeral procession and feeling the disdainful looks from the surrounding villagers. The hatred in his heart grew wildly like weeds.

He slowly got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and the despair and sorrow on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by a heart-stopping calm.

He glanced at the direction the coffin had gone, then at Wang Jinzhu's brand-new brick courtyard.

"Very well, very well." He murmured to himself, a strange smile playing on his lips. "Wang Jinzhu, Chen Tianfang, Grandpa... you all just wait. I, Chen Shuyan, will remember this debt. We'll settle it another day."

The wind from the back mountain carried the earthy smell of soil, scattering the ashes of the paper money.

As the last shovelful of earth covered the grave, Old Chen, leaning on his cane, took a deep look, turned around, and walked away with unusual determination, step by step.

It was as if what was buried was not only his wife, but also all the confusion and stubbornness of his first half of life.

Back home, everyone was listless, and Wang Jinzhu didn't say anything.

She knew that words would be inadequate at a time like this. She simply rolled up her sleeves, went into the kitchen, and soon the aroma of food wafted out.

White rice, stir-fried greens, and a bowl of steaming hot egg drop soup.

"Come and eat, everyone." Wang Jinzhu's voice broke the silence. "People are made of iron, and food is steel. No matter how big the problem is, we have to fill our stomachs first."

The family sat quietly around the table, with only the soft clinking of bowls and chopsticks.

After several rounds of meals, Old Chen put down his chopsticks, his cloudy eyes sweeping over everyone present, finally settling on Wang Jinzhu.

"Golden Pearl".

"Sir, I'm here."

"What I said at the grave today still stands," Old Chen said in a hoarse but clear voice, "I'm severing ties with the second wife."

Chen Shi suddenly raised his head, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but Chen Yuxiang quietly tugged at his clothes under the table.

Old Chen didn't even look at him, and continued, "Just talking isn't enough, we need something in black and white, the village chief and clan elders need to be witnesses, and it needs to be reported to the ancestral hall. I don't want to be entangled with those black-hearted bastards in the afterlife after I die."

He paused, then looked at Wang Jinzhu: "You write this letter of severance."

"Let me write it? This old man has finally figured it out."

Wang Jinzhu understood that this was Old Man Chen handing over power to her and also making an attitude to the whole family—from now on, she would be in charge of the family.

"Okay." Wang Jinzhu didn't refuse and readily agreed. "Sir, tell me how you want it written, and I'll write it down."

"Write it down," Old Man Chen closed his eyes, as if recalling something, or perhaps making a painful decision, "Chen Yang, the second son of the Chen family, is unfilial and disloyal, allowing his wife to commit atrocities; his son, Chen Shuyan, is cold-hearted and unrighteous, a waste of his studies of sages. From this day forward, I, Chen Dequan, sever all ties with these two, expelling them from the Chen clan. From now on, their marriages and funerals are no longer related; whether they are rich or poor, alive or dead, it is all up to fate!"

After he finished speaking, he seemed to have all his strength drained away, slumped back in his chair, and began to breathe heavily.

Wang Jinzhu took out paper and pen and carefully wrote down Old Chen's words, word by word.

Before the ink was dry, she handed the paper to Old Man Chen.

With trembling hands, Old Chen bit his fingertip, then pressed a bright red fingerprint heavily onto the end of his hand.

"Tianfang, go and invite the village chief."

Chen Defu arrived very quickly.

When he saw the clearly written letter of severance of kinship, complete with a bloody fingerprint, even the old village chief, who was used to all sorts of things happening in the village, couldn't help but gasp in shock.

This is not a simple division of the family; it is a complete severing of ties and expulsion from the clan!

"Brother, have you... thought this through?" Chen Defu's tone was very serious. "Shuyan, after all, is a scholar..."

"A scholar?" Old Chen sneered, pointing to his heart. "What's the use of reading so many books if your heart is blackened? My Chen family would rather have an honest, hardworking peasant than a hypocrite!"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Chen Defu stopped trying to persuade him and solemnly signed his name on the letter of severance of kinship as a witness.

"I'll go to the clan and take care of it right away." Chen Defu put away the documents, sighed, and said, "You... don't worry, life goes on."

After seeing the village chief off, the heaviest weight on the hearts of the eldest son's family was finally lifted.

The atmosphere at home immediately relaxed.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Wang Jinzhu called Chen Tianrun over and said, "Tianrun, starting tomorrow, you will continue to go to school."

Chen Tianrun paused for a moment, then whispered, "Sister-in-law, something just happened at home..."

"It's precisely because of this incident that you need to study even harder." Wang Jinzhu patted his head, her tone leaving no room for doubt. "You're different from Chen Shuyan. You study to understand the world, to be capable in the future and protect your family, not to leech off them. Go, and make up for the regret that no one in this family has ever been a scholar."