Watching Gong Ze’s heartbroken expression, Old Lady Gong was disgusted.
This little beast had been sly and cunning when threatening her, yet now, in front of outsiders, he was putting on an act of innocence.
“You must be so pleased with yourself right now,” she cursed as she lunged forward to grab at Gong Ze. “Who are you putting on this act for?”
The man sitting there with Lu Youling’s support, like a fragile, easily broken bamboo, swayed as she yanked at him.
Lu Youling exploded on the spot.
“What are you doing?!”
Furious, Lu Youling kicked Old Lady Gong away.
Then he hurriedly wrapped his arms around Gong Ze’s head, protectively pressing the devastated, betrayed man against his chest. His hands kept stroking the back of Gong Ze’s neck, afraid that the gentle-hearted Gong Ze wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“You don’t know what this little beast—” Old Lady Gong started again.
Feng Xueping had had enough. He bellowed, “Shut up!”
Then he grabbed the flailing old woman and threw her back toward her servant.
“Ow—”
Old Lady Gong and the servant woman tumbled into a heap together.
She looked at Gong Ze, who was being shielded by the village chief and the others, his head resting against Lu Youling’s chest, his face pale. Then she saw everyone staring at her with contempt. She nearly went mad with rage.
That’s not how it is!
That’s not how it is at all!
This little beast’s true face is far more terrifying than mine!! Why won’t anyone believe me!?
She sat down on the ground, wailing and throwing a tantrum.
Being utterly unreasonable.
She claimed that after Gong Ze came home, both her son and the old master had died, and that Gong Ze must have been the cause.
Gong Ze was surprised when he heard this: She actually guessed correctly.
As for the others, they found it utterly ridiculous.
The village chief cursed at her, “Your precious son, Gong Laoda, went whoring and died of a venereal disease. What does that have to do with Gong Er?!”
“When Gong Laoda fell ill, Gong Er was still away from home. How could he have caused it? Did he force Gong Laoda to spend his days chasing women? Did he force him to stop being a decent person?”
“And as for the old master, his health was already failing. He was old and had barely a breath left. But you insisted on having that chongxi wedding for Gong Laoda.”
Just mentioning it made the village chief angry.
What kind of chongxi wedding do you have for someone with a venereal disease? It wasn’t like he was possessed! It was sheer nonsense.
“It threw the whole household into chaos. Not only did Gong Laoda die that very same day, but the old master, heartbroken over losing his eldest son, passed away too.”
After the village chief finished, Old Mr. Feng and Feng Xueping were speechless.
The two of them had thought there might be some twist to the story, but this?
It was all that old hag’s own doing.
“Gong Ze is completely innocent in this.”
The village chief gave a cold laugh. “And that’s not all.”
Today, he was going to lay it all out so that everyone would know who was black and who was white.
Gong Er was such a good young man. As village chief, it was already his failure that this child had nearly been killed under that vicious woman’s hand.
Thinking of how Gong Ze’s internal organs had been damaged by poison, the village chief was filled with guilt and pity.
Just then, Old Lady Gong started wailing that Gong Ze had bullied her.
She claimed that while Gong Ze appeared respectful on the surface, he had actually been after her money and selling off the land.
That was when Shuisheng spoke up in anger. “That’s not true!”
Then he revealed how, before the old master had even died, the old woman had stolen the property the old master had left for his son and hidden it away. As for the land…
“The land was also left by the old master for the family’s descendants. It had nothing to do with the old woman. Second Master had every right to dispose of it as he wished. But he still went to the old woman to discuss it, and she agreed. Who knew she would go back on her word?”
After Shuisheng finished, the village chief nodded, confirming it.
“That’s right. Gong Er discussed this with me. And the reason Gong Er sold the land was because he planned to go to the capital and not stay here.”
“And since the old master and the eldest son had both passed away, leaving only Old Lady Gong, Gong Er intended to sell the land and take the old woman to the capital to live, so she could enjoy her remaining years in peace.”
“What a pity.”
The village chief sneered at the stunned Old Lady Gong.
“Yet you resented him for it and wanted to take his life!”
What utter foolishness.
After hearing this, Feng Xueping and Old Mr. Feng could hardly believe that anyone could suffer so terribly yet remain so gentle, courteous, and virtuous—possessing a character as upright as bamboo and a face to match. For a moment, they looked at Gong Ze with a mixture of admiration and sympathy.
When Old Lady Gong heard that Gong Er had sold the land for this very reason, she refused to believe it. “Impossible! How could that little beast be so kind-hearted?! Hah, what a joke!”
Hearing her curse Gong Ze, Feng Xueping frowned. “Watch your filthy mouth.”
The more he compared Gong Ze to this old woman, the more despicable she seemed.
Lu Youling stroked his haggard, sorrowful boyfriend. Seeing the tears and redness in Gong Ze’s eyes, his nose stung with emotion.
Why did Gong Ze have to suffer so much?
He couldn’t imagine how much this must hurt Gong Ze to hear. Not only was his sincere kindness betrayed, but he was also humiliated like this.
“You’re the beast,” Lu Youling cursed back, his chest heaving as he shouted, “Are you even human?!”
“Exactly.”
“The old woman has always been mean and calculating. Now she wants to kill the only remaining heir of the Gong family. At her age, how can her heart be so cruel?”
“This is too much. It’s not something a human being should do.”
The Gong family’s servants had somehow crowded into the small courtyard, whispering and pointing as they learned of the old woman’s actions.
Gong Ze, as if unable to bear it any longer, closed his eyes. A single tear fell from his trembling lashes and rolled off his chin. His frail yet beautiful appearance—like shattered jade, heartbreakingly lovely—moved everyone who saw it to sorrow and pity.
Not only did Lu Youling forget about the presence of outsiders and hold his boyfriend close to comfort him, but even Feng Xueping walked over and spoke in a low, soothing voice.
He was afraid that someone whose life had been so tragically beautiful might lose all hope and do something desperate.
Sigh.
Truly, the more exceptional a person, the more hardships and misfortunes they encounter.
Perhaps this was the cruel joke of fate.
Though Feng Xueping had not yet formed a deep friendship with Gong Ze, he already held him in high regard.
“This matter is too serious—far beyond the scope of family squabbles.”
The village chief and Old Mr. Feng stepped forward and addressed the crowd. “Poisoning the family’s only male heir, harboring resentment over such trivial, baseless matters, and trying to murder an innocent, filial child—even as a stepmother, Old Lady Gong’s actions are absolutely appalling!”
“Nearly causing a death—how can this be brushed aside?”
“If I, as village chief, pretend not to see this and let you off lightly, then soon enough, that good child Gong Er’s life will become nothing but an unjust ghost!”
The village chief pointed at the old woman, who was now trembling in fear, and spoke gravely.
Then he ordered someone to fetch the village party secretary, the village elders, and the head of every household.
Open the ancestral hall! Put the poisonous woman on trial!
“Tie her up. And that servant woman accomplice too. Tie them both up and wait for the villagers to arrive.”
Few among the Gong family’s servants still sided with Old Lady Gong.
Now that Gong Ze was the head of the Gong family, the old woman was clearly finished.
And the village chief held considerable sway in the village. After a moment’s hesitation at his command, the servants brought hemp rope and bound the flailing, screaming old woman as she rolled on the ground.
Just as she was about to be dragged away, Old Lady Gong realized with belated clarity that although Gong Er had never been close to her—perhaps he even resented her for what she had done to him as a child—he had genuinely intended to take her with him and provide for her in her old age.
Never before had she called Gong Ze her son.
She had always treated this non-biological second son like a mere animal.
Now she opened her mouth, and a sob burst from her throat.
“Gong Er, Gong Er—my son—!”
Old Lady Gong reached out toward Gong Ze and cried, “Wuwu, my son, save your mother.”
“Hmph, you still have the nerve to call him your son? Look at what you’ve done. You’ve already broken his heart long ago.”
The village chief snorted and had her taken away.
Lu Youling looked at the man in his arms. When the old woman had cried out “my son,” Gong Ze’s eyes had widened in disbelief. Finally, he smiled, shook his head, and shed many tears, murmuring, “Only now, at this moment, is Auntie willing to see me as her support and call me her son…”
Upon hearing this, Lu Youling’s heart ached terribly.
“Don’t be sad, Gong Ze.”
“That’s right. That kind of person doesn’t deserve to be an elder.”
Feng Xueping also spoke.
Gong Ze remained silent. The way he tiredly leaned against Lu Youling’s shoulder, unwilling to speak, made the two of them worry about him.
…
Before dealing with Old Lady Gong, the village chief and the village party secretary found Gong Ze for a private discussion.
They wanted to ask how he wished to handle her.
“In the old days, for a crime like poisoning the family’s only male heir with arsenic, nearly ending the Gong family line, she would have been sentenced to death. But times are different now.”
The village chief and the party secretary puffed on their tobacco pipes as they discussed.
“Your uncle the party secretary and I talked it over. What do you think of this? If you want to go easy on her, split the family assets. Since she’s at fault, in front of all the villagers of Fenshan Village, not a single penny of the Gong family’s property will go to her.”
The village chief said, “Let her take whatever dowry she brought and send her back to her maiden family.”
This punishment was not light.
Old Lady Gong had brought little to nothing when she married Old Master Gong. The older generation of her maiden family was gone, and the younger generation wouldn’t care for her. In the end, she would die alone in misery, with no one even to carry her funeral basin.
The party secretary added, “But that punishment might be too lenient. We know you’re angry and that you’ve been physically harmed. Alternatively, you could kick her out of the family and let her fend for herself in the rundown temple up the mountain.”
The village chief and party secretary favored the latter option.
They all said that even a vicious beast wouldn’t eat its own young. This woman had abused Gong Er since childhood—the people of Fenshan Village knew this privately, but it was a family matter, so there was little they could do. Now that Gong Er had grown up and was the only male heir left, Old Lady Gong had still tried to poison him with arsenic. It was utterly horrifying.
The two men looked at Gong Ze, who was supported by Shuisheng and Lu Youling, with the tall and sturdy Feng Xueping standing behind him.
“Gong Er, what do you want to do?”
After a long silence, Gong Ze spoke hoarsely, “Village Chief, I want to sever ties with her. Remove her from our family genealogy. From today onward, she is no longer my aunt, and I am no longer her son.”
The village chief and party secretary exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
“That’s only right. And then?”
“And…” Gong Ze gave a bitter smile. “I don’t want to kick her out. Let her continue living in the Gong family home for the rest of her life.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Youling cried out in disbelief, “Gong Ze! Why are you sympathizing with her at this point?”
“Hey, she tried to poison you to death. Are you crazy?” Feng Xueping said from behind, his expression disapproving.
He looked at this man he admired—frail yet strikingly handsome—with a sense of frustration at his perceived weakness.
Gong Ze’s face was pale as he said quietly, “I’m not sympathizing with her. It’s just that she spent her entire life with my father. If I send her away to starve to death, my father and elder brother would be disheartened in the afterlife. I don’t want to break their hearts, especially since they just passed away…”
Gong Ze’s voice choked with emotion.
“She is… after all, my elder brother’s biological mother…”
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
They had all forgotten about Old Master Gong and the elder Gong son, but Gong Ze had considered them.
Lu Youling tightly gripped Gong Ze’s hand.
Feng Xueping frowned, glancing at the weakened Gong Ze. “You’re loyal, filial, and righteous. It’s just a pity you didn’t meet better people.”
Gong Ze lowered his head. “Let her live out her days in the Gong family’s old residence. But I will only leave her enough money to support herself. The servants and the valuables will no longer be hers.”
“Additionally, after severing ties, I won’t take her with me to the capital. When she dies, she cannot be buried in our family’s ancestral graves or entered into the family genealogy.”
“That’s possible, but…”
The village chief and party secretary hadn’t expected that even after everything, Gong Ze still considered family ties. They looked at him with a complex mix of emotions—moved and impressed.
Intelligent, educated, and most importantly, extraordinarily filial and righteous.
If their own children were even a fraction as good as Gong Ze, they would laugh in their dreams.
Old Mr. Feng nodded repeatedly. This young man embodied the spirit of a gentleman and the essence of filial piety. He was truly rare.
“Sigh, let’s do it that way, then.”
In the end, the village chief and party secretary made the final decision.
…
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