"This is very good," Landlord Wang nodded.
"You old immortals, you—" Wang Youtao became even more frenzied in his madness, cursing the uncles and elder relatives as well, but before he could finish, Yu Daming knocked him out cold.
When they heard Wang Youtao include them in his tirade, the faces of those uncles and elders turned dark. Any partiality they had for Wang Youtao vanished in an instant.
Landlord Wang looked at Madam, then said, "As for my legitimate wife Qian Shi, I never wanted to abandon the wife of my youth, but she was too jealous. She mistreated eight or nine out of ten of my concubines and bore me no children. I have endured this all along, but now she has colluded with outsiders to covet my wealth and bully my son. Such a woman is unacceptable; I divorce her. Housekeeper, bring paper and ink, and prepare the divorce document."
No matter how much Madam Qian Shi wailed, Landlord Wang ultimately signed the divorce document with a firm hand and stamped it with his personal seal.
Once he flung the divorce document at Qian Shi, telling her to get out, Landlord Wang then turned his gaze to Wang Youbao and said gently, "Bao, it’s fortunate that your sisters are all married off. If you want to associate with them, then do so; if not, that’s fine too. If they don’t treat you as a brother, you have no obligation to treat them as sisters. As for your aunts, after my death, give them some silver coins to send them away, or alternatively provide some real estate for them to live in, but do not keep them at home. Led astray by Qian Shi, they have grown malicious at heart, and keeping them here would only invite endless troubles."
Wang Youbao responded, "Yes, father."
"Good boy," Landlord Wang patted Wang Youbao’s hand with satisfaction and then closed his eyes, uttering weakly, "Bao, father is tired. You escort your friends and the uncles out; I would like to rest a bit. Don’t worry, after I’m gone, the estate will be yours, and if anyone dares to covet it, I will become a vicious ghost and haunt them."
The uncles shivered down their spines, all thinking to themselves: They must remind their clan never to covet the wealth that rightfully belongs to Wang Youbao like Wang Youtao and Qian Shi did.
"Father..." Wang Youbao choked up again.
Landlord Wang did not open his eyes, but weakly waved his hand: "Go on, go on."
Wang Youbao pressed his lips together, then began escorting people out.
After seeing the uncles off at the front gate, Wang Youbao then walked An Jing and Xiao Changyi to their oxcart parked not far away.
"Changyi, thank you for today," Wang Youbao said sincerely. He had not said thanks before, and now he made amends.
Xiao Changyi remained silent.
However, it was An Jing who smiled and said, "What’s there to thank? It was just good timing; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to help." She paused, then added, "Your father truly loves you."
"Yes," Wang Youbao nodded, "My father once told me that the happiest thing in his life was having a son like me."
"Then you should hurry back," An Jing urged, "and stay with your father."
"Yes." He had not been able to stay by his father’s bedside before, but now he could, and he would not leave.
He could see that his father probably didn’t have much time left, and he intended to be there every possible day, every possible moment, savoring every word with his father, so he would not have wasted the many years of his father’s affection.
Only after watching Wang Youbao enter the Wang family’s main gate did An Jing turn to Xiao Changyi and say, "Husband, actually, Youbao is fortunate." At least he had such a loving father.
"But," An Jing suddenly said with a smile, "we are even happier~"
Xiao Changyi looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly, "Hmm."