After receiving the divorce letter from Yue Jianhua, Zeng Lanzhi harbored resentment toward Tang Xiaohua.

But she didn’t dare lay a hand on Tang Xiaohua directly, and could only focus her attention on Feng Jiu’er instead.

She bribed a man to poison two elderly family members, paid off some local townsfolk to cause a disturbance, and even the assassin involved had been hired by her.

Zeng Lanzhi’s goal was simple—she didn’t want to see Dragon Shadow thrive in Yue City, and she didn’t want to see Tang Xiaohua’s people living well.

Yet unexpectedly, the moment the man confessed, she herself couldn’t escape blame either.

At the Yue City government office, Old Master Yue, Yue Jianfei, Tang Xiaohua, along with Yue Jianhua and his two sons, came to see the detained Zeng Lanzhi.

Zeng Lanzhi raised her eyes to look at the people before her, then lowered her head.

“Mother.” Her eldest son tried to step forward, but a jailer blocked his path. “Young Master Kang, please don’t make this difficult for me.”

Zeng Lanzhi’s eldest son had no choice but to stop in his tracks.

“Mother.” Zeng Lanzhi’s younger son, still quite young, had just called out before he started choking up.

The old man, seated in a wheelchair, let out a faint sigh, his mood evidently not good.

Having once again made the old man worry over family matters, Yue Jianhua took a deep breath and came forward to kneel before him.

“Father, your son has been unfilial!”

“This matter has nothing to do with him.” Zeng Lanzhi, who had kept her head bowed all along, suddenly spoke up.

“The moment he gave me the divorce letter, I no longer had any connection to this family. None of you needed to come see me.”

“This is a matter my own father will see to on my behalf.”

The moment Zeng Lanzhi’s voice fell, two men walked in from outside.

“Old Master Zeng, Elder Master Zeng.” The jailer guarding the door greeted them with a low bow.

Old Master Zeng strode in with a face full of fury—had it not been forbidden for them to touch the person inside, he likely would have gone straight in to slap Zeng Lanzhi himself.

“You ungrateful, unfilial creature!” Old Master Zeng let out a cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and turned to look at Old Master Yue.

He cupped his hands toward Old Master Yue and sighed faintly. “Old Yue, it’s my failure as a parent. You’ve seen our shame.”

Old Master Zeng turned once more to look at his own daughter.

“Since she’s no longer part of the Yue family, this matter no longer needs to trouble Old Yue.”

Everyone could see Old Master Zeng’s helplessness, but the love he held for his daughter was still there—he simply couldn’t show favoritism for the moment.

“Since when has A’Lan stopped being a daughter-in-law of my Yue family? Why was I never informed?” Old Master Yue asked in a deep voice, looking at the man kneeling before him.

“Father, it was I who gave her the divorce letter.” Yue Jianhua’s face was full of anguish. “Father, it’s my fault, all of this misfortune is something I brought upon myself.”

“Even if A’Lan was at fault, you had no right to give her a divorce letter on your own!” Old Master Yue grabbed his cane and struck Yue Jianhua hard.

“By doing this, did you even consider me, your old father, or your elder brother and sister-in-law?”

“I took away your authority, cut off your income, even reclaimed the family estate—all because I wanted you to work hard, to learn more from your elder brother and sister-in-law.”

“No income, no house, and now no family either—look at what you’ve done with your life!”

“When A’Lan married you, she married beneath her station. She didn’t love you—otherwise, could she have married you, could she have given you two sons?”

“Father.” Yue Jianhua looked up at the old man, tears welling in his eyes.

“You’ve disappointed me greatly.” The old man shook his head, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply again and again.

Seeing this, Yue Jianfei reached out a large hand to gently pat the old man’s back.

Tang Xiaohua frowned slightly and pinched Yue Jianfei.

Yue Jianfei immediately came to his senses, looking at the man kneeling before them, and cleared his throat lightly. “What Father says also represents what Xiaohua and I think.”

“Who hasn’t made mistakes? As for what A’Lan did, Xiaohua hasn’t taken it to heart.”

“What Father did was a test for you, but you misunderstood his intentions and did something unbecoming of a man—it’s truly disappointing.”

“Grandfather, Uncle, do you mean to say you’ll still give my mother a chance?” Yue Jianhua’s eldest son composed himself and asked.

Not only him, but at this moment even Zeng Lanzhi was watching the old man and Yue Jianfei without blinking.

She had thought they wouldn’t even spare her a glance again, yet unexpectedly, all those who should have come had come.

Zeng Lanzhi never expected that, at this moment, the old man would speak up for her—and even Yue Jianfei as well.

Yue Jianfei had always doted on Tang Xiaohua, so his words surely reflected Tang Xiaohua’s wishes too.

At this moment, she truly realized she had been wrong, terribly wrong.

If she hadn’t been so discontent, she—still a member of this family—and everyone else, could all have lived even better.

With a soft thud, Zeng Lanzhi dropped to her knees.

“Tang Xiaohua, I’m sorry! It was my own pettiness, all of it was my fault.”

She looked up to meet Tang Xiaohua’s gaze, her attitude sincere.

“All this time, I felt you were simply lucky. I was jealous of you—I even hoped you wouldn’t do well.”

“Honestly, it’s only now that I’m truly facing what you’ve sacrificed, truly recognizing my own faults.”

“Old Master, I’m sorry! Tang Xiaohua, I’m sorry!”

Zeng Lanzhi knocked her head against the ground three times in succession, then straightened up again to look at everyone.

“Whether it was my past mistakes or today’s, I truly did wrong, and I should bear the punishment I deserve.”

“Kang’er, Yong’er, your mother did wrong, and she must accept the consequences that come with it.”

“From now on, listen well to your father, your grandfather, your uncle, and your aunt.”

Zeng Lanzhi took a deep breath, looked at her own father, and knocked her head against the ground three more times.

“Father, your child has been unfilial, unable to heed your guidance. Father, your child knows she was wrong. I won’t make this kind of mistake again.”

Zeng Lanzhi pressed her lips together and rose to her feet.

“All of you should head back. I’m willing to accept whatever punishment the magistrate decides. Jianhua, take Kang’er and Yong’er home, and raise them well.”

Just as Zeng Lanzhi turned to leave, her younger son suddenly dropped to his knees and threw his arms around Tang Xiaohua’s leg.

“Aunt, you’re the best! I’m begging you, please save my mother.”

“I’m not afraid of living in a small house, but I can’t lose my mother. Aunt, I’m begging you, please save my mother.”

“Aunt.” Seeing this, Zeng Lanzhi’s eldest son also dropped to his knees. “Please, save our mother.”

Tang Xiaohua looked down at the two kneeling children and let out a soft sigh.

Half an hour later, everyone from the Yue and Zeng families had left the government office.

Zeng Lanzhi had done wrong, but after paying the full bail amount, she still left along with the others.

As long as she didn’t commit any further wrongdoing over the next two years, no one would pursue the matter further, and her offense would be cleared.

A large portion of the bail money was sent to the families of the two poisoned elderly victims—money that had nearly emptied out the entire savings of Yue Jianhua’s household.

But even so, all four members of that household wore smiles on their faces.

It went to show that wealth was only one part of life, never the whole of it.