Golden Branch

Wang Erlang did not have any delusion that Wang Heng, as an "eld sister who is like a mother", would take the initiative to shoulder the heavy burden and take care of her "relatives" who were not close to her without any regrets.

Wang Erlang only wanted a temporary place to stay, and he didn't even need to worry too much about food and clothing.

He has read books and can also draw.

Even if you copy books for a bookstore, you can still earn some copper coins.

He can support himself.

Besides, the Wang family is not so poor that they can’t even afford to eat.

He did not covet those sacrificial fields. He just hoped that his sister would use them to at least give them a place to live and some money and rice.

Wang Erlang can copy books and make money by himself, but he has other brothers and sisters.

The youngest, Hachiro, is not even a month old yet.

The youngest, Twelve Niang, was only five years old.

Among their biological mothers, only Balang's biological mother was not sold because she was pregnant and had just given birth, so she was not plotted against by the Cui family and was barely kept.

All the other concubines are gone.

However, it was in vain for Balang's biological mother to stay by chance.

She had been tortured for many years and had to endure the difficulties of giving birth during the journey, and she was only left with one breath.

If she hadn't been thinking about Hachiro, she would have left long ago.

Wang Erlang saw clearly that when the concubine named Azhu saw her sister Ajiu, the dead eyes suddenly burst into light.

Wang Erlang had an inexplicable premonition: Ah Zhu will not live long!

Now that she had a noble person to entrust Balang to, the breath she had been holding on to finally dissipated.

Moreover, I am not afraid to say something malicious, but it is better for Ah Zhu to die than for her to live.

As long as she is alive, Balang will no longer be an orphan without anyone to rely on.

Compared with his other brothers and sisters, he is not pitiful enough and cannot gain the greatest attention from his sister.

Ah Zhu died, and Balang was an orphan less than a month old who didn't even have milk to drink. If the elder sister was to take care of her younger siblings, she would definitely put Balang first!

He will get more attention.

People are all made of flesh and blood. Even if it is a cat or a dog, they can develop some feelings for the object they have spent more effort to raise. Let alone a human being?

Wang Erlang felt that even if Ah Zhu could still be saved, for the sake of her son, she would—

Wang Erlang pinched his palms hard and suppressed all these thoughts.

He looked at the eight-year-old Wang Sanlang and emphasized again: "Sanlang, remember, this is not our home. The Wang family has been confiscated. All the shops, properties, etc. are gone."

"This is the dowry farm that my sister's biological mother gave me. It belongs to my sister."

"My sister is kind and generous. She respects her elders and loves her younger siblings, so she took us all in."

"But we must remember the rules, be grateful, and never take it for granted that this place belongs to us!"

People must have a sense of propriety and a conscience.

If you are confused or too greedy, it is easy to lose everything.

Wang Erlang always reminds himself: Don’t be greedy, don’t be short-sighted, don’t be stupid!

Just like Ye Ye, if he had been smarter and more restrained, he wouldn't have...

And there is the eldest mother. If she had been more kind to my elder sister and given her a little protection, she would have received my elder sister's sincere filial piety and double the reward.

Instead of being like this now, sick and paralyzed, he fell into the hands of his granddaughter whom he had abandoned for many years and never loved.

Whether it is good or bad depends entirely on people's mood.

Even though the elder sister appears respectful but is actually perfunctory, the eldest mother has no way to express her grievances.

Even Wang Erlang seemed to be able to "understand" my sister——

A loving mother and a filial son.

If the elders are not kind, why do they expect the younger generations to be filial?

Repaying resentment with virtue, why repay virtue?

If it were Wang Erlang, he would be in Wang Heng's position, and he would gain power, while Madam Xie and Wang Lin would fall into his hands.

It would be considered filial piety if he didn't retaliate, so how could he be respectful and filial without holding a grudge?

Wang Erlang did not forget that he knelt at the feet of old woman Xie and begged her so hard that his forehead was bruised, but she still refused him coldly.

Perhaps, in the eyes of this noble ancestor, his biological mother was just a lowly slave, not worth her spending a penny.

A cold light flashed in Wang Erlang's eyes.

Unfortunately, he has not grown up yet and does not have the ability to take revenge.

And his respected eldest mother might not be able to endure for too long.

I just hope that my mother won’t die easily before I can stand up again.

Wang Erlang had some dark thoughts in his heart.

While he was secretly holding a grudge, he did not forget to continue to instruct his younger brother.

"Also, my sister is still a child. It's already difficult for her to be alone in Hedong."

"It's very difficult to be able to help now."

"In the future, if my sister makes any mistakes or does something inappropriate, don't take it too seriously and don't make it public."

Wang Erlang suspected that his sister might be really acting.

She may have already hated Old Lady Xie and her son in her heart.

Disguise or something, fake is fake.

You can pretend for a day, but you can't do so all the time, for years.

If the elder sister makes any mistake, and Sanlang and other younger siblings are young and ignorant, and then they make a fuss about it, it will be "the relatives sad and the enemies happy".

That’s right, in Wang Erlang’s view, both Madam Xie and Wang Lin were almost “enemies” to the illegitimate sons and daughters of the Wang family.

Mrs. Xie was not very kind to her grandchildren.

As for Wang Lin, he gave birth to a child but did not raise him, and he did not fulfill his responsibilities as a father at all.

Cui was able to do evil in the Wang family, torture and kill illegitimate sons and daughters. In addition to her own viciousness, it was also due to Wang Lin's indifference and even connivance!

Cui was the murderer, and Wang Lin and Madam Xie were accomplices.

Now, they are seriously ill and unable to take care of themselves. Wang Erlang and others may not take the opportunity to retaliate, but they will not offend Ajie for their sake.

The only person they can rely on now is their elder sister.

Sister is their "relative"!

Wang Sanlang didn't quite understand what Wang Erlang said, at least he didn't understand the deeper meaning of his words.

But Wang Sanlang still remembered the words his biological mother desperately shouted at him before she was dragged away: "Listen to your sister and brother! You must be obedient!"

You don’t have to be smart, just follow smart people.

As long as you don't stand out and don't do stupid things, you can always survive.

At that time, Wang Sanlang was only eight years old and didn't know why his aunt mentioned "sister".

The elder sister he was familiar with was Wang Shiniang, who was only one year older than him and also a lowly concubine's daughter.

He doesn't look very smart.

It was not until he arrived in Hedong and saw the plump and beautiful Wang Jiu that Wang Sanlang realized that the "sister" his aunt was referring to was the only legitimate daughter of the Wang family - Wang Heng, or Wang Jiuniang!

The elder sister is Wang Jiu and the elder brother is Wang Erlang.

My aunt once said that Wang Erlang and his mother were the smartest.

In fact, he was the "eldest son of a concubine", but he could live safely under the hands of such a cruel mistress like Cui, which shows how smart he was.

Wang Sanlang was indeed not very smart, but he was obedient. In the past, he listened to his aunt, and from then on, he followed his brother and sister obediently.

He listens to whatever his sister says.

He just follows his brother's lead and learns from him!

"Yeah! Brother, I saved it!"

There was a clear silliness in Wang Sanlang's eyes, and he nodded obediently, looking like a little fool.

Wang Erlang: ...Okay! My younger brother may not be very smart, but he is very obedient.

I just hope that these little kids can live a stable life under their sister's care.

Rich?

Wang family reputation?

Wang Erlang said that those have nothing to do with me and I would never have such delusions.

Wang Sanlang: ...Yes! Yes, yes! Brother, you are right!

……

On Wang Heng's side, she ordered people to carry Madam Xie, Wang Lin and her son into the main courtyard of the manor with great fanfare.

This was originally Wang Lin's courtyard.

It is a tool used by Wang Heng to demonstrate filial piety.

There are people cleaning the place every day, and there are also slaves and maids serving the people.

When Wang Heng brought the mother and son here, the room had already been tidied up, and hot water, clothes, etc. were all in place.

Wang Heng specially found a few strong and healthy women, in groups of four, to help Madam Xie and Wang Lin wash and change clothes.

In less than half an hour, Madam Xie and Wang Lin were cleaned up and lay comfortably on the soft beds.

"Where's the court doctor? Has he arrived?"

After the man was properly treated and no longer in a dirty and miserable state, Wang Heng ordered someone to call a doctor.

The family doctors of Lou's fortress have been doctors for generations, and some of their clansmen even work in the Imperial Hospital.

He has superb medical skills and a wide network of contacts.

Wang Heng dared to bet that when these court doctors treated Madam Xie and Wang Lin, with just the slightest hint, they would spread the news about the mother and son's illness, as well as Wang Heng's filial piety towards her elders.

It won’t be long before Wang Heng’s reputation for filial piety spreads throughout Qi and even the capital.

In another year or two, Wang Heng will come to Beijing. People who have already heard the story of her personally tending to the sick will be more convinced of her filial piety when they see her slender and graceful appearance.

How can I not be filial?

In order to take care of her seriously ill elder, her clothes became looser and she even became emaciated, which shows that she was willing to do everything herself and worked hard.

The purity of his filial piety and the touching nature of his deeds are comparable to building a hut to observe mourning.

The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars are nothing more than this!

If it is marketed well, perhaps Wang Heng can be successfully included in the biographies of women of this dynasty.

"One of you was unkind to me, and the other tried to take advantage of me. Now I'm just using you to improve my reputation, which is fair enough."

Wang Heng watched the court doctors and maids coming in and out, busy at work, and her round and delicate little face was full of worry and heartache.

But I felt relieved in my heart and thought: This can be considered as debt collection!

……

There are not only Wang Heng but also Lou Yu who intend to "collect debts".

At the post station, Lou Yu made a simple move and made Wang Lin truly experience what it meant to have his family destroyed.

After completely helping the fat girl solve her troubles, Lou Yu did not stop and started heading south.

According to the plan, he would go to the downstream river channel, continue to clear out the river camps, and regain control of the Grand Canal that was about to take shape.

But, this is just the surface plan.

In fact, Lou Yu had other arrangements.

With great fanfare, he led his men all the way to the prefectures and counties downstream, and in full view of everyone, Lou Yu checked into the river camp.

However, secretly, Lou Yu quietly set out for the capital with only a team of personal guards, a group of less than twenty people...

PS: Oh, it’s winter vacation… My daughter is right next to my computer, calling me mommy all the time, o(≧口≦)o