It had already come to this point, so there was no reason not to go. Of the three contracts, Shao Yunan kept one and he gave the other two to Zhao Lizheng and Wang Wenhe respectively. When Wang Wenhe accepted the deed, his expression looked very depressed. He was the last person who wanted Wang Shijing to leave the clan.

Old Lady Wang had already been escorted and the others also went to the Wang clan’s ancestral hall. When they came in, they could already hear Old Lady Wang yelling and cursing from a distance. Wang Shiping walked a few steps quickly and raised his voice. “Tie her up and gag her!”

Immediately, Fourth Aunt Wang and several other strong women stepped forward and tied up Old Lady Wang tightly, gagging her. Wang Dali also turned a blind eye to this and kept looking at the two gold ingots in his hand.

Wang Wenhe also stopped dwelling on it. He put incense on the ancestral tablets, took out the family tree, then in presence of Elder Cen, Kang Rui, and the clansmen, wrote with a Chinese pen next to Wang Shijing’s name – on the thirteenth day of the first month of the fifth year of Yongming, Wang Shijing broke his kinship with his father, Wang Dali, and his mother, Wang Zhu, and moved out of the Wang clan to establish his own.

With these words written by Wang Wenhe, with the red words falling on the sheepskin, Wang Shijing got his freedom back. From now on, although he did not have the clan as a root, he was now truly in control of his own life. No longer would he be oppressed by his so-called relatives on the grounds of blood relationship.

A red ink brush drew the last line and crossed out Wang Shijing’s name. Wang Shijing was no longer a member of the Wang clan. From now on, the Wang clan no longer had Wang Shijing as part of it. Wang Wenhe closed the genealogy and said loudly in front of the clan, “From today, Wang Shijing has moved out of the Wang clan and set up his own family!”

Some of the clan members were expressionless, but some were so sad that they shed tears, including Wang Shijing’s aunt and the other people who were close to Wang Shijing’s family. Wang Shijing gave Wang Wenhe a respectful salute and Shao Yunan stepped forward and took out a total of four gold ingots, placing them right next to the clan tree.

“Patriarch Wang, these 80 taels of gold are Shijing’s last filial tribute to the Wang clan as a clan member. The future of the clan will always be in the children. I believe that Patriarch Wang will use this money for the clan members’ wellbeing.”

Wang Wenhe did not want to accept it, but he knew that he had to, because so many clansmen were watching him. Wang Wenhe nodded. “You and Shijing have a heart. I accept the money.” Then he said loudly, “As the patriarch, I have decided to divide the money into three parts. One part will be used to buy public land and whoever contributes to it, will have his share in income. The second share will be used to repair the ancestral hall and if there is any surplus, it will be deposited for common use in the clan. The last share will be for each child of the clan to go to the private school. If anyone takes money, but does not send their child to school, they will be expelled from the clan!”

Compared to the Zhao and Sun clansmen who made a lot of money, the Wang clan’s share of the benefits was really not much, but it was better than nothing. Five taels of silver was enough for half a year’s tuition at an ordinary private school. Those who had boys in their families and could now send them to the private school were happy. Those who didn’t were planning to put in more work in the public fields to earn more money. The fields were taxed and even those who had laborers at home couldn’t buy too much land, so by helping in the public fields, not only did they not need to worry about taxes, they could also earn money. So why not?

Wang Wenhe’s decision was not opposed by the clan. Even if there were those who did not like it and felt they were losing out, such as Wang Benchang’s family, they did not dare to say anything. Wang Yan was going to study at the White Moon Academy and they heard that Dean Cen wanted to send Wang Yan to the Imperial College. So who would dare to mess with Wang Wenhe’s family now?

The 80 taels of gold were distributed in this way, making Old Lady Wang so angry that she almost blacked out. After Wang Wenhe allocated the money, he said to Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing, “Next, our clan will deal with the clansmen, so I won’t keep you.”

Shao Yunan bowed, “Thank you, Patriarch Wang, for understanding.” Then, he took Wang Shijing’s hand and left the Wang ancestral hall with Elder Cen, Kang Rui, and the other villagers who came to see the fun. Behind them, the doors of the ancestral hall slowly closed. 

Outside the ancestral hall, Zhu Wencai and Zhu Wenhua stood. They didn’t care what Wang Wenhe was going to do with Old Lady Wang. They bowed to Elder Cen and Kang Rui and apologized. “Students are ashamed.” If today’s matters were not handled well, it would definitely affect the Zhu family’s descendants’ educational achievements. This was something that Zhu Wencai and Zhu Wenhua didn’t dare to risk.

Elder Cen knew what they were thinking, but he only said indifferently, “Shijing has moved out of the clan, separated from the family, and you are also strangers. In the future, I hope you two can discipline your clan members more and don’t try to come back to make trouble with Shijing’s family.” After saying that, he looked at Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing… “Let’s go back.”

“Elder Cen!” But Elder Cen just ignored them and walked away. Wang Shijing also ignored his two uncles, while Shao Yunan paid even less attention to them. Watching them walk away, Zhu Wencai’s forehead was covered with cold sweat. “What should we do? This time our Zhu family has offended Elder Cen. It’s all because of your sister! She kept such a big thing from us! If I had known that Elder Cen was in Xiushui Village, I would have never come over!”

Zhu Wenhua was also anxious. “We have already offended him, so it’s too late to regret it. We are also in Xiushui Village, so it’s not convenient for us to act. Let’s go back and discuss this matter with the clan elders. When Elder Cen returns to the county town, you and I will personally go to his door to apologize. We can’t let this affect the studies of our clan’s younger generation.”

Zhu Wencai nodded. “That’s the only way to go. Your sister is really nothing good. I thought that if I married her far away, she wouldn’t be able to harm the Zhu family, but I didn’t expect that she would cause us so much trouble! If I had known that, I would not have pleaded for mercy for her and let her die in that pig cage!”

Zhu Wenhua’s expression turned ugly as he gritted his teeth. “It would be good if she had died at that time. Let’s go back. No need to care about the Guo family’s side. If Wang Dali does not take out the money, let the Guo family ask him for money.”

“Go, go back to the village!” Zhu Wencai and Zhu Wenhua left with their clansmen. Almost all the people from the Guo family were injured by Wang Shijing. Father and Mother Guo didn’t dare to trouble Wang Shijing anymore, but it didn’t mean they didn’t dare to trouble Old Lady Wang’s family. They didn’t dare to mess with Wang Shijing, who had a backer, but it didn’t mind they didn’t dare to mess with the Wang family, who had obviously offended the head of the county school and the county magistrate.

Father Guo took the rest of their people to Old Lady Wang’s house. As for how the follow-up would develop, Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan didn’t care anymore.

Edited by: Jaisland

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