Hearing the sound, several people looked over, only to see Madam Zhou, with Hongyu’s support, walking out unsteadily.
She was dressed in old coarse clothes, her head wrapped with a white cloth, her face devoid of any color, as pale as could be, ghost-like.
Zhou Xuennian also started, appraising Madam Zhou with a quick glance, his eyes quickly filling with disgust.
"Mother, what are you doing out here? The wind is strong and you are still weak," Wufu hurried to support her and shot Hongyu a glare.
Hongyu felt somewhat guilty.
However, Madam Zhou weakly tugged at the corner of her mouth, then looked towards Zhou Xuennian, "Big brother, are you really going to drive your sister and me out?"
She had just overheard Zhou Xuennian’s words from behind the door, her heart nearly shattered. This was her family, her own kin; how could they treat her and her daughter, both orphaned and widowed, ?
Zhou Xuennian snorted and said, "This house is too close to the mountain, unsafe, who knows if bandits will come and go as they please? Look, haven’t you been injured by one of those thieves? Now that you have silver, it’s better for you to move out, save yourselves from being bullied by thieves again and having to blame someone else for your misfortune!"
Wufu laughed, thinking that Sun Cai had a quick mind to come up with such an excuse.
But someone had to believe it for it to work.
"Big brother, father said before that this house is for me to live in. It was to be at my disposal, and all of you swore on this before father passed away," Madam Zhou said with a face full of sorrow and despair.
"You’ve lived here for years, that’s enough!" Zhou Xuennian was unmoved.
Seeing his callous, uncompromising demeanor, Madam Zhou felt a piercing chill in her heart and said, "Big brother, do you know what that beast Zhou Dajun has done?"
Zhou Xuennian’s face changed, and he exclaimed sharply, "Zhou Yingmei, if you cannot keep yourself virtuous, don’t go slandering others indiscriminately, that’s your own nephew. If you have no shame, no wish to be human, we of the Old Zhou family still wish to be human!"
Madam Zhou stumbled at this reprimand, looking at him incredulously.
"Take Madam inside," Wufu said, her expression cold, ordering Liu Jin and the others.
Madam Zhou struggled, unable to let go yet, "Big brother, are you truly going to ignore the bond between siblings?"
Zhou Xuennian gave a cold snort and didn’t even deign to glance at her.
Madam Zhou was in despair, allowing Hongyu and the others to escort her inside.
Watching her mother’s even more desolate figure, Wufu knew she was afflicted but felt it was for the best.
She could have stopped Zhou Xuennian from spewing his nonsense, but she chose not to, letting Madam Zhou see the true face of her so-called family, to let go once and for all.
"You’ve achieved your goal, now you can roll out," Wufu said to Zhou Xuennian, her eyes impassive.
Zhou Xuennian grunted, "You must leave this house immediately."
"Zhou Xuennian, we have no intention of staying in this cursed place anyway, where that deserving of being childless scourge Zhou Dajun has been. It disgusts us," Wufu scoffed coldly. "But not because you’re chasing us out, because it’s beneath us. Understand?"
"You... you malicious girl!" Zhou Xuennian said, pointing at her, seething with anger.
"Me, malicious? Just wait, I can be even more so!" Wufu crossed her arms with a smile. "You’d better hide your son well; I’d hate to find him."
Before Zhou Xuennian could speak, she continued, "That’s right, I’ve heard that this silk robe of yours was bought with silver. What a Scholar Zhou you are! Ah, I have some rapport with the Lord County Magistrate, I wonder how he would react if he knew?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuennian’s face turned pale, his stare fixed on her, "You, you dare threaten me!"
Wufu’s smile faded as she turned away, "So what if I’m threatening you? Shall we set a date?"
It was more than a threat; she wanted him to live in fear. Today’s humiliation would be repaid in time to come.