Shao Yunan said, “Elder Cen is someone I think I can still trust. The more support we have, the better. If a man like Elder Cen is willing to be a father to us, he must really want to recognize us as his sons. Anyway, you and I don’t have a father, so having a father you can be filial to is good. What do you think?”

“I’ll listen to you.”

“You don’t need to listen to me. what do you think?”

Wang Shijing said, “If it weren’t for you, Elder Cen would never want a son like me. I have a father, but it’s the same as not having one. So, I don’t know how different it would be to have one more father.”

Shao Yunan touched Wang Shijing’s injured left eye lovingly. “It’s just a change of address, just like now. It just means there will be one more important person in our life. One more person in our family. Oh no, two people. There is also madam.”

“Okay.”

“It’s the equivalent of recognizing our godfather here. We won’t fight over Elder Cen’s family property. We will just have more family members. You and I are actually floating weeds in this world, without any roots. But with more family members, we will have roots.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you.” Wang Shijing kissed his wife on the forehead. “Wife, don’t leave me.” Only in front of this person, would he show some vulnerability. Shao Yunan said deliberately colorfully, “I can’t seem to get away from it.” He then touched Wang Shijing’s five taels of flesh, making Wang Shijing’s breath instantly change. This made Shao Yunan stop hurriedly. “Elder Cen and Senior Brother are still waiting for their noodles!”

Wang Shijing spent 1,300 taels of silver, a full 6 gold ingots, to completely sever relations with his family and move out of the Wang clan family tree, finally becoming a free person. This incident became a topic the villagers in Xiushui Village talked about during their leisure time. 

Wang Wenhe has always been tolerant of the Wang family due to Wang Zhisong. But this time, Wang Wenhe was very cold to that family and showed his full authority as the patriarch. Bringing out the clan rules, he taught Old Lady Wang a severe lesson.

The old woman disrespected the patriarch, oppressed the clan members, and even tried to embezzle the clan’s share of the money. It was a serious violation of the clan rules. Wang Wenhe punished her with fifty canes and three days of kneeling in the Ancestral Hall. 

During this period, none of the clan members pled for Old Lady Wang. Even Wang Dali and Wang Chunxiu did not plead for her. Old Lady Wang was beaten so much that she cried for her mother and fainted from the pain after less than 20 strokes.

Later, Wang Shiping came forward to ‘plead’ for mercy, so the remaining 30 strokes were kept for the time being, to see what would happen next. If she still did not repent, the punishment would be doubled. After she recovered from her injuries, she would come back to the ancestral Hall to kneel for three days.

The old woman, who had passed out, was carried back home. But Wang Dali did not wait for Old Lady Wang to wake up and ask her opinion. He took the initiative to give Father Guo 100 taels of silver, so the other party could help him find someone to ransom Guo Zhaodi and Wang Tianyan. 

Father and Mother Guo also took Wang Zhaizheng back temporarily; they would only send him back after Guo Zhaodi was released from prison. After dealing with these matters, Wang Dali sent Wang Chunxiu to the county town the next day, so she could live with Wang Zhisong. 

In the village, Wang Chunxiu was already unable to lift her head and Old Lady Wang already destroyed the remaining face she had. A woman who wanted to marry the country magistrate and liked to seduce men, who would dare to marry her? No one would dare to even take her in as a concubine.

Wang Chunxiu really didn’t want to live anymore. Wang Dali, who was afraid that something would happen to her, finally decided to send her to Wang Zhisong and asked him to watch over her. Wang Dali also left 100 taels of silver for each of them. 

After Wang Zhisong learned what happened at home, his eyes also turned black. His own mother ruined his sister’s reputation and even ruined the last bit of her face. If he did such a thing in front of Dean Cen and Dean Kang, it was unknown If he would be able to return to the county school. In the past, he could still go to Wang Shijing to plead for mercy, but now that Wang Shijing had completely left the family and signed such a deed, how could he go to him?!

Wang Zhisong immediately blamed his father for agreeing to sign the deed, but then Wang Dali said something which made Wang Zhisong stare at his father in astonishment, freezing in place.

When Wang Dali left, his back became even more hunched. Wang Zhisong stayed where he was for a long time, unable to regain his senses. The secret his father told him rang in his ears.

“Wang Shijing is not your father’s son. Father also doesn’t know who his real father is. Your mother won’t tell me and your maternal family also didn’t want to tell me. The matchmaker approached me and promised that as long as I would be willing to marry your mother, they would give me a dowry of 200 taels and ten acres of land.” 

“Anyway, your father couldn’t get a wife so he agreed. On the night of the marriage, your father finally knew why your mother had to rush to marry such a simple person like me, who had no ability.  She ate the pregnancy fruit before we even married and she became pregnant less than a month after we got married.” 

“After all, the paper can’t cover the flames. I don’t know when this matter will be exposed. Rather than making trouble, why not let him leave now, while also getting such a large sum of money to support your studies. Your mother will only drag you down, without bringing any benefit.” 

“Your second brother and sister-in-law are also not kind-hearted, and will only drag you down in the future. When you pass the exam, father will give you part of the family fortune. You should separate so that your second brother and sister-in-law will not be able to drag you down.” 

“As for your mother, father will take care of her. Your sister’s reputation is now completely ruined by your mother, so look for someone for her. It doesn’t matter if he is poor or not. The further away she marries, the better. Just study hard and get fame as soon as possible. Just don’t come back in the future.”

This was probably the most that Wang Dali has said at one time in his life. He has been useless all his life, allowing his wife to harm his son and daughter. He didn’t like Wang Shijing, because every time he saw this ‘son,’ he would think of his wife’s dislike for him during their first night.  

Regardless if it was a man or woman, they would show red marks on their bodies for a month or two after taking the pregnant fruit for the first time.  He was a weakling, but he could not bear the thought of his newlywed wife not being perfect and even carrying the wild child of some other man in her belly.

When Wang Shijing was born, he did not look like him at all, then he also grew tall and big. He wished more than once that this son would die outside, so that he could erase the most dishonorable stain of his life. However, despite this son’s life being hard, he survived time after time, slowly making his life better and better. Wang Dali did not know how to face this ‘son.’ Now that Wang Shijing completely separated from the Wang family and was completely cut off, Wang Dali felt relieved. This was good, very good.

After Wang Dali left, Wang Zhisong sat down on the stool for a long time. Wang Shijing… his mother having a child before marriage? Wang Zhisong shivered. If word got out about it, not to mention the examination, he wouldn’t even have the face to show others. 

Wang Zhisong hurriedly turned to look around, then stood up in a panic and opened the curtain to see if Wang Chunxiu also heard. This matter should not be known by others, absolutely not! Wang Zhisong had never hated his mother, who would only drag him down. But for the first time, he had an idea like ‘why doesn’t his father just divorce his mother?’

Wang Shijing left the Wang clan and the person who was most worried about it was the patriarch, Wang Wenhe. After returning home that day, Wang Shiping explained to his father why he stopped him. Wang Shijing wanted to leave the clan wholeheartedly. With Old Lady Wang’s family’s shamelessness, even if Wang Shijing broke up with that family, as long as they were in the same clan, that family would not give up Wang Shijing (his money) easily. 

If Wang Shijing was forced to stay, it would only cause animosity. It was better to sell Wang Shijing to Shao Yunan. With the character of those two people, even after leaving the clan, they might still plan for the future of the Wang clan. Furthermore, Wang Yan was able to go to the White Moon Academy, only because of the face of those two people. So just for the sake of Wang Yan, they couldn’t stop him.

Wang Wenhe understood these reasons, but it was still difficult for him to relax for a while. He also regretted it very much. If he had been more fair to Wang Shijing at the beginning, Wang Shijing would not have been determined to leave the clan. In the final analysis, it was because he didn’t do a good job as patriarch.

Of course, apart from Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan, the happiest person was Elder Cen. He really wanted to recognize Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan as his sons. Now that the two of them no longer had any worries, the matter of recognizing relatives should also be on the agenda. Elder Cen had also already picked the date, the third day of February. After recognizing his sons, he would go to the capital, bringing Kang Rui with him.

Shao Yunan put the new deed in the space. Wang Shijing, who was completely liberated, became different, becoming much more relaxed. It also didn’t need to be mentioned how happy Wang Qing and Wang Nizi were. After learning about this, Nizi threw herself into her little daddy’s arms and cried loudly, while Wang Qing laughed while wiping away his tears. Jiang Moxi looked at the crying Nizi, holding the ninth-order rubik’s cube. Then, to the shock of everyone, he walked up to Shao Yunan and raised his hand to pat Wang Nizi’s head. Jiang Kangning lost his composure on the spot.

Edited by: Jaisland

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