Liu Shi’s stance caused Fang Yacun tremendous inner anguish.

He and Liu Shi had been married for many years. When he originally decided to marry Liu Shi, he had valued more what her family could bring to help him, while toward Liu Shi herself, this plain-looking wife, he had looked down upon her somewhat in his youth.

Later, when he was first establishing himself in the Fang family, Liu Shi’s family had indeed provided him with considerable help both openly and secretly. Though Liu Shi’s appearance was poor, her temperament was gentle and understanding, and she had always regarded her husband as heaven. Even when Fang Yacun often looked at her with a critical eye, he really couldn’t find any faults in her other than her appearance. Later, the two had children together.

Over all these years, Fang Yacun had developed feelings for Liu Shi.

Although in his youthful arrogance he had secretly thought that when he succeeded and no longer needed to look at anyone’s expression to live his life, he could have any beautiful woman he wanted, but after reaching a certain age and gaining more experience, he understood that having Liu Shi as his wife was his good fortune in this life.

The environment he grew up in was rather special. Initially, there was a concubine protecting him and his sister, and after the concubine was gone, his sister constantly schemed for him. But in an environment like the Fang family, Fang Yacun had lived his life trembling with fear from childhood to adulthood, afraid that one day his legitimate mother might find him displeasing and take his life. His life truly stabilized only after Liu Shi entered the family.

Just now, when Liu Shi said she would hang herself with their son at the Fang family gate, somehow it made Fang Yacun recall those precarious childhood and youth years, which panicked him.

In the afternoon, Old Madam Fang again summoned everyone to the Fang family ancestral hall to discuss how to deal with Fang Yacun.

Liu Shi’s family had indeed arranged people to raise numerous doubts, then gradually shifted the blame onto Concubine Fang. Throughout this process, Liu Shi’s gaze remained fixed on Fang Yacun without moving away.

Fang Yacun stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly. Every time he wanted to speak, upon meeting Liu Shi’s gaze filled with despair yet containing a hint of pleading, he would lose the courage to open his mouth. This was the most torturous moment in Fang Yacun’s entire life.

An elder asked Fang Yacun: “Fourth Brother, is this the truth? Was it your concubine and sister who gave Yacun the sterilization powder?”

Facing everyone’s gazes, and looking at Liu Shi and their son, Fang Yacun finally mumbled dejectedly: “I don’t know, I don’t know.” Besides “I don’t know,” he didn’t know how else to answer others’ questions.

On one side was his blood sister, on the other, his wife and child.

Seeing this, Liu Shi breathed a sigh of relief, and a trace of joy appeared in her eyes.

She thought that after all these years, she hadn’t poured out her heart to him in vain. Before this, Liu Shi had been constantly anxious, not truly wanting to die, and more afraid that she and her son together couldn’t match the weight of one Fang Yaru.

Old Madam Fang glanced at Fang Yacun with a mocking and contemptuous expression.

Quite a few people were inclined to believe that Fang Yacun was unrelated to this matter, so since Fang Yacun wouldn’t admit it, and Old Madam Fang temporarily couldn’t produce more useful evidence to accuse Fang Yacun, the clan couldn’t arbitrarily convict Fang Yacun. Moreover, a more suitable scapegoat had now appeared.

A dead concubine and a young madam who was no longer part of the Fang family would naturally cause less upheaval to the Fang family than Fang Yacun, who had nearly become the future heir of the Fang family.

However, Old Madam Fang was unwilling to let Fang Yacun off. She believed that even if Fang Yacun hadn’t acted personally, he was at least someone who knew the truth. But she had cultivated him for so many years and had always trusted him wholeheartedly, yet Fang Yacun hadn’t told her the truth—he was an ungrateful wolf that couldn’t be tamed. If the Fang clan didn’t punish Fang Yacun, she would report this matter to the authorities and let the government determine his guilt.

Whether the government’s involvement could convict Fang Yacun was uncertain, but the Fang clan would definitely lose all face.

Old Madam Fang was also a difficult person to deal with, which everyone in the Fang family knew.

They argued until evening, and finally Old Madam Fang agreed to take a step back. Fang Yacun didn’t need to be removed from the family genealogy, but he had to move out of the Fang family ancestral residence, and she would appoint another heir for the Fang family.

Back then, Fang Yacun, a concubine’s son, could become the head of the Fang family because of Old Madam Fang’s support. Now, although Fang Yacun’s wings had hardened, Old Madam Fang, as the clan leader’s wife, still had remaining authority in the clan.

Fang Yacun’s side also thought that Old Madam Fang had brought Ninth Master’s child into the residence and seemed to be grooming that child to be the Fang family heir. But what Old Madam Fang wanted was one thing; whether things would go as she wished was another matter entirely.

After all, the child was still young, Old Madam Fang was advanced in years, and among the Fang family’s younger generation, very few could take Fang Yacun’s place. The Fang family would ultimately still have to rely on Fourth Master Fang Yacun. As long as Fang Yacun wasn’t expelled from the Fang family, he would still have opportunities to become the family head in the future.

Fang Yacun’s side discussed among themselves and felt that at this time, the most important thing was to first appease Old Madam Fang, let Fang Yacun escape punishment, and calm the situation down. Other matters could be planned gradually later. Otherwise, if Old Madam Fang continued to make trouble regardless of the consequences, the Fang family would be affected, and everyone’s interests would be harmed.

Therefore, after the discussion, Fang Yacun’s side accepted Old Madam Fang’s demands.

Fang Yacun’s household would quickly move out of the Fang family ancestral residence, clan affairs would temporarily be handled by several elders, and the properties of their branch would be returned to Old Madam Fang’s hands.

Concubine Fang was already dead, so Old Madam Fang couldn’t pursue her even if she wanted to. Fang Yaru had vicious intentions, helped tyrants commit evil, and plotted against her elder brother. She was expelled from the clan, and the Fang family would send a letter to the Ren family stating that, from now on, they would no longer acknowledge her as a Fang family daughter.

If Concubine Fang were still with the Ren family, this would be an extremely heavy blow to her. Being expelled from the Fang family meant she had no natal family, and after a hundred years, her memorial tablet couldn’t bear the surname “Fang.” Many ordinary married women would commit suicide in shame and anger over such matters.

However, both Fang Yacun and Liu Shi felt that Old Madam Fang’s actions today were quite unlike her previous style. Why did it seem like she was making a big show of lifting something heavy only to put it down gently?

Especially Fang Yacun—he had suffered plenty under Old Madam Fang when he was young, and somewhat didn’t believe that Old Madam Fang would let him off so easily.

Regardless of what the Fang Yacun couple was thinking, Old Madam Fang seemed to truly intend to settle the matter this way. After the handover arrangements were discussed, Old Madam Fang had people see the guests out.

After all the clan members left, Old Madam Fang didn’t even glance at the Fang Yacun couple and had people help her back to her courtyard, only sending someone to notify them to quickly move out of the Fang family and not to take any of the Fang family’s property, just like those concubine sons she had previously swept out.

Fang Yacun felt depressed and didn’t say a word, maintaining a gloomy expression throughout the journey, and didn’t look at Liu Shi even once.

After the couple returned, Liu Shi went back to her room, changed clothes, removed her hairpins and jewelry, and personally brought a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to Fang Yacun, begging him to write a letter of divorce.

Fang Yacun stared at Liu Shi for a long while, then finally kicked away the things in her hands and left with a flick of his sleeves.

Liu Shi lowered her head to look at the scattered papers and brushes on the ground. Tears slid down from the corners of her eyes, but a smile slowly curved up at the corners of her mouth.

As an ordinary woman, she didn’t care much about a wife’s glory following her husband’s status. Over all these years, no matter what she did, what she thought about in her heart was what made him satisfied with her.

What she cared about was whether her husband truly had her as a person in his heart. What she feared was that in her husband’s heart, others occupied more important positions than her.

Having suffered from uncertainty for over ten years, at this moment she finally felt truly at peace.

Fang Yacun had built up some family assets through his years of management, so the next day they moved out of the Fang family and the whole family went to live in a small courtyard they had previously purchased.

However, regarding the Fang family, Fang Yacun was unwilling to let go. Who would be willing to spit out something that had already been eaten?

Fang Yacun’s calculations were extremely shrewd. He planned to delay for a period of time to exchange the properties in his hands, leaving an empty shell for Old Madam Fang.

But what he hadn’t expected was that this time, Old Madam Fang could anticipate his plan one step ahead. She had obtained all the account books of properties under the Fang family name early on, and hired several highly experienced shopkeepers with heavy payment to take the account books and handle the handover with him one by one. If the numbers were even slightly off, they would be relentless.

In a situation where he calculated one step while the enemy calculated three steps, Fang Yacun’s wishful thinking was completely shattered. Old Madam Fang recovered all the properties in Fang Yacun’s hands at a surprising speed.

All the Fang family members had to sigh that ginger is indeed spicier when old.

After recovering the properties from Fang Yacun’s hands, Old Madam Fang was still not satisfied. She had people dig up Concubine Fang’s grave, burn Concubine Fang’s bones and throw them into a cesspit, and hired some wandering sorcerers to perform rituals day and night, wanting to ensure that Concubine Fang would find no peace even underground.

When Fang Yacun received this news, he was so angry he nearly vomited blood. He went back to the Fang family to confront the old madam, but couldn’t even enter the Fang family’s main gate.

Meanwhile, Fang Yacun’s superior had been coming to ask Fang Yacun for silver to bribe higher-ups, but now Fang Yacun could no longer freely withdraw silver from the Fang family. His generosity naturally wasn’t as great as before, which made Feng Mian very displeased. After learning about what happened in the Fang family, Feng Mian’s attitude toward Fang Yacun also became much colder.

So when people from above came to investigate the matter of those spies lost in Yanbei, Fang Yacun was severely taught a lesson by Eunuch Lu’s people, and his previous promotion was also indefinitely postponed.

Fang Yacun was too busy protecting himself. Although he still sent people to look for Concubine Fang, he no longer had the time and ability to seek revenge.

During this period of turmoil in the Fang family, Ren Yaoqi had been receiving letters sent from Jiangnan, so she was well-informed about Fang Yacun’s situation.