The Final Settlement (2)

deserves her respect, and don't forget to care for everyone she should care about! Let everyone feel the weight they hold in her heart, thus bringing a gentle joy and satisfaction."Stepmother, get in...No one can deny that this man's courage and cunning in these business battles are simply astonishing, a true genius. He is the undisputed emperor of the marketplace, daring to give up, dare to be crazy, dare to fight, and dare to kill. To go against him, you might get lucky and survive, but it will be a bloody affair; if you lose, your entire empire will crumble. And even saying "lucky" makes the chances of success seem incredibly slim. After this incident, for at least ten years, no one will dare to challenge Rong Ling again!

And behind him stood another formidable presence—Rong Sanbo!

With these two individuals around, the Rong family would be considered retired even if they weren't, and no one would dare to provoke them. The fate that befell the Liu family alone was enough to frighten them!

Although the Liu family made their last ditch effort and tried their best to find someone, nobody in this situation would be foolish enough to step forward. However, the Liu family was relatively fortunate because they had managed to hold onto the Jiang Yichen family. In the end, their fate wasn't too tragic. The highest-ranking member of the Liu family, Liu Chief, retired early on the grounds of health issues and went home to recuperate. The rest of the family members either got removed from their posts or were transferred to remote areas with nominal positions.

This is still the result of Rong's family showing mercy!

As for the He family, although they have since sided with the Rong family and are working for them, these actions cannot erase what they did before. He Zhanshu's father was directly removed from his post, his uncle who served as a deputy provincial governor was sentenced to ten years in prison, and his uncle who was in charge of the He family's business was sentenced to five years. Besides that, there were some economic penalties. Those are secondary matters; the most important thing is that their lives were spared, and the sentences were not too harsh. For people like them who have navigated the officialdom, once they enter prison, as long as they behave well and find connections, they will be repeatedly given lighter sentences and reduced terms. It won't take long for them to get out. However, with this criminal record, it is highly unlikely that the He family will be able to continue their influence in the officialdom.

The only member of the He family who remained was He Zhanshu. His request to be transferred to a remote area had been approved. From now on, he just wanted to stay with his wife and daughter, living a simple life. ( ..tw good looking novels) Kyoto, he could stay away forever if he wanted to. The He family's luck in official positions ended with him. This time, when he requested a transfer, he didn't even think about achieving any more performance goals or climbing any further. He only hoped to do his best, live up to his family's expectations, and be able to look down on this world with pride. That would be enough.

The family split up during this incident, which also lessened his entanglement and burden. This time when he was transferred, he could leave more easily.

Ever since the incident, the already strained relationships within the Ho family worsened. The animosity towards the He Zhanshu household in particular intensified. With the matter finally settled, the issue of dividing the family property was brought to the forefront. To be honest, the blame for all this lies with Old Madam Ho. However, she possessed considerable assets, which made it so that even those harboring deep resentment dared not openly confront her. During the division, the second and third sons' families even turned against Old Madam Ho.

Technically, the elderly matriarch should be cared for by her eldest son. This has been the custom since ancient times. However, there have also been cases where the elderly matriarch lived with her youngest son because he was more attentive and caring. Therefore, the competition among the three sons over the care of the elderly matriarch is particularly fierce. From the perspective of the third son's family, the elderly matriarch is now paralyzed in bed and cannot cause much trouble. At most, they would hire a nurse to take good care of her. Even with all those antique treasures the elderly matriarch possesses, hiring hundreds of nurses would still be manageable. The second son's family shares this view and also desires to compete for her care. As for the eldest son, He Zhanshu's father's lineage, they feel that taking care of her is acceptable, but not caring for her is also fine, it all depends on the elderly matriarch's wishes. The eldest son has experienced the most twists and turns in this incident, shouldering many problems head-on. Therefore, regarding money or power, they have largely let go. Furthermore, He Zhanshu has matured greatly after this ordeal. He directly and forcefully proposed to his parents that they split up their assets, and his parents readily agreed without causing any further conflict.

Thus, in the end, who Old Mrs. He wants to be with depends entirely on her own wishes.

After this incident, the He family not only lost their status as a prominent family in Kyoto but also found it incredibly difficult to stay there with any dignity. After all, the He family had been relying on both the Liu and Rong families, making them seem like "wallflowers" - a label that is easily looked down upon. Moreover, after such a drastic fall from grace, whenever members of the He family went out, they were bound to encounter acquaintances who would inevitably bring up their misfortunes. There are always people in this world who enjoy kicking someone while they're down, and the He family, in their current state, certainly attracted a lot of scorn. Given the arrogant nature of the He family members, they couldn't tolerate such a stark contrast in treatment nor the mockery from others, even if it was just some idle chatter behind their backs. Therefore, both the second son's branch and the third son's branch decided to leave.As for the eldest son, He Zhanshu, he was going to leave as well, but his destination was a poor and underdeveloped region. Because He Zhanshu's father had once been a lieutenant colonel, his identity was considered sensitive, so he was ordered not to leave the capital. This left him with no choice but to remain in Kyoto. The old matriarch of the He family was far from pleased with this situation.

The old matriarch He, was so enraged by what happened to the elder branch of the family that she wished she could strangle He Ya herself. Despite having made the biggest mistake, He Ya refused to admit her fault and instead shifted all the blame onto He Ya, trying to lessen her own guilt. She believed it was He Ya who influenced her judgment and decisions, and it was He Ya who repeatedly pushed the He family towards ruin. To add to her misery, her eldest son had unwisely entangled himself with that scoundrel Rong Qi-keng, and her grandson He Zhan-xu had partnered with that vile woman Xiao Ru, further crippling the He family. Thinking about the entire elder branch of the family filled the old matriarch with a sense of unease and dissatisfaction.

She wouldn't follow He Zhanshu to suffer down below, and besides, He Zhanshu was taking Li Yiping, that woman. She later treated that woman badly; if she had gone along, who knew how that woman might torment her in the future And the eldest son had to stay behind in Kyoto, he couldn't go anywhere else, and she couldn't follow him either. Kyoto was full of people she knew. She used to be so high and mighty, with everyone looking up to her and flattering her. To suffer the scorn of those people and have to watch their faces – the old woman simply couldn't bear it.

So, the eldest daughter would absolutely not follow. Then, there are only the second and third daughters left.

The third wife was the one who dealt with business and being the youngest son's wife, she should have had it good. However, now that the youngest son is in jail, his daughter-in-law is the one making the decisions. The old woman has never forgotten how the third wife pushed her to Rong Ling’s family that day, forcing her to apologize. She remembers clearly how the third wife shoved her out of her wheelchair, sending her crashing to the ground like a puddle of mud, exposing her humiliation and ridicule to Rong Ling and Lin Meng. In her entire life, she should never have shown such a pathetic side in front of Lin Meng. That once lowly little girl, who she could have crushed with a finger, ended up stepping on her instead, even humiliating her by bringing her to their doorstep. This was an immense shame for her, something she absolutely couldn't bear. Since the third wife dared to treat her this way, if she stayed with her, who knew what other indignities she would suffer.

Thus, after weighing the pros and cons, she made a decision to go with the second son's family. The second son's family was overjoyed upon hearing the news. The third family, however, was deeply disappointed.

"Mom, are you not considering it anymore"

Old Mrs. He, seeing her third daughter-in-law's fawning face, simply closed her eyes.

This third daughter-in-law had a sullen look on her face. Although she was unhappy, she was helpless. Amongst the three daughters-in-law, she was the youngest. The eldest didn't even speak, what could she possibly do!

However, when it came to dividing Grandmother's estate, the third daughter-in-law couldn't hold back and started a commotion. It was because the old woman's heart was too biased, guarding those good things and even giving them all to the second son's family. They are all sons, why did the old woman do that Her heart is too biased! The company at home is now just an empty shell, the valuable things are just what the old woman is hiding. She gave all the benefits from that day to the second son's family, how could anyone swallow this breath

The old woman had something to say, claiming she would rely on the second son's family for support in the future. She felt it was only right to help her second son's family, so all her personal belongings would go with her to their home. After her death, what remained would be divided equally among the three families.

The third daughter-in-law just won't agree. It sounds casual, but who knows how much will be left by then. What the old woman is doing is clearly favoring the second son's family and openly refusing to acknowledge the first son's family as her descendants. If you really care, why not give some out now to your grandchildren There's no need to wait until after a hundred years. Besides, how much could it even cost to support just one elderly person in the second son's family!

The old matriarch had made up her mind, and the second wife, being an official's wife, was naturally also shrewd. She said a few words and countered the third daughter-in-law's accusations. The third daughter-in-law was ultimately enraged and left with a harsh threat.

"Alright, Mom, from now on, you'll have to rely on my second brother's family. My family and my eldest brother's family are cutting ties with you today. In the future, please understand that we won't be able to support your retirement anymore!"

Old Mrs. He's eyes flashed coldly when she heard this. Look, the wolfish ambition is exposed! As expected, there was no agreement with this third house; that's all they are.

The third daughter-in-law stormed off and went back to her room. Then, He Zhan's mother came over to counsel her, urging her not to speak such harsh words. It would be best if she went to apologize to the elderly matriarch and offer a gift. Don't let the relationship become strained.

The third daughter-in-law let out a cold laugh and retorted, “Big sister-in-law, you actually believe what mother said Look at the second sister-in-law's family, how much can they really manage You yourself see, for all these years that the second sister-in-law has been with her husband working in the government, she’s amassed quite a fortune through corruption. But how many things have they honestly brought back to the family Whatever enters the second sister-in-law's home is never coming out again. Look at how shrewd she is! Since the second brother got into trouble and returned home, she’s been constantly flattering mother in front of her. Hmph, mother really believes her act. Just watch, you’ll see how the second sister-in-law will treat mother later!”ess with slight resistance, humming and grunting softly, her small mouth moving soundlessly as if speaking incoherently. She herself was probably half asleep and couldn't even tell what she was saying...