Chapter 115 -

Chapter 115: Chapter

A stunned and suffocating silence fell over the grand ancestral hall. Second Uncle remained on his knees, his jaw hanging open as Old Madame Bai slowly stood up from her chair, leaning heavily on her carved wooden staff.

Her sharp eyes swept across every single face in the room, from Second Uncle’s pale face to Madame Chen’s children, and finally to Zhengyu and Yimei sitting quietly in the First Branch’s section.

"You all think you are entitled to the Bai family wealth," Old Madame Bai began, her clear, ringing voice echoing off the high beams. "You plot, you forge records, you sabotage each other, and you scream about separation as if this estate was built by your own sweat!"

She slammed her staff down onto the stone floor with a loud BANG!

"I have asked my ancestors, and my uncles agree," Old Madame Bai declared coldly. "Since greed and entitlement have rotted this family from the inside, none of you deserve to hold a single tael of this estate!"

A collective gasp ripped through the hall.

"Mother!" Master Bai gasped, rising from his chair.

"Old Madame, what are you saying?!" Madame Chen cried out, her hands flying to her chest.

"Listen to my words clearly!" Old Madame Bai ordered, shutting down every whisper instantly. "Starting tonight, every single branch, the First Branch, the Second Branch, and the Third Branch, is stripped of all personal wealth, shops, businesses, and monthly allowances belonging to the Bai family!"

An Yulan’s face drained of all color, her knees going weak as she nearly collapsed to the floor. Beside her, Bai Wenjiang stared at his grandmother in total disbelief, while Bai Wenxiu and Bai Shishi gasped in horror.

"Every deed, every store in the East Market, and every farm will be locked under the main family seal," Old Madame Bai continued, her face hard as granite. "In three days, every single one of you will pack basic clothing and move out of this manor. We are relocating to the old main mansion in the southeast!"

The elders sat beside her, nodding in grave agreement.

"For one whole year, you will all live together under the southeast roof," Old Madame Bai announced, her sharp eyes fixing on each branch. "No family connections. No outside assistance. No using the Bai name to borrow money. Whichever branch is able to independently raise 100,000 taels of silver by themselves within that year will inherit the entire Bai family legacy and take control of the estate!"

Second Uncle stared up in utter horror. "100,000 taels without the family shops?! That is impossible!"

"If it is impossible, then you will starve like common peasants!" Old Madame Bai snapped back cleanly, her voice cutting through his panic. "The decision is made!"

Yimei looked shocked as well.. she had expected the old Madame to do somethings crazy but this was beyond crazy.. she was literally turning everyone’s life around.

The entire room erupted into pure panic. The Great Uncles sat with cold, unyielding faces as Old Madame Bai stood her ground, refusing to look back.

"Mother! You cannot do this!" Second Uncle’s wife, Madame Liu, shrieked, grabbing Second Uncle’s arm. "What about Ruizhe and Xiuying? They are still young!"

Bai Ruizhe, her arrogant teenage son, turned red with embarrassment and fear. "Mother! I am not moving to some old manor in the countryside! How will I show my face to my friends?!"

His sister, Bai Xiuying, burst into tears, stomping her foot on the stone floor. "Father! Do something! I can’t live like a common peasant! I need my silk dresses and my jewelry!"

Third Uncle Bai Chenghao and his wife, Madame Zhang, rushed forward to bow before Old Madame Bai, their hands trembling.

"Mother, please reconsider!" Third Uncle begged, sweating profusely. "What about our little Jun? He is just a child! He needs proper food and comfort!"

"Then you had better go out and earn money to buy his sweet meats yourself, Third Brother!" Master Bai Tianming snapped back, though his own face was completely dark with anxiety. He turned toward Old Madame Bai with a deep frown. "Mother, what about Wenjiang? He needs money for his imperial civil service exams this spring! If he loses the family support, how can he pay the registration fees and tutors?" ℴ

Madame Chen chimed in dramatically, wiping away fake tears with her silk sleeve. "Yes, Old Madame! Wenjiang is the future scholar of our family! You cannot ruin his future over a family dispute!"

Old Madame Bai rolled her eyes in sheer disgust, her glare cutting right through them.

"He has failed those exams four times already!" Old Madame Bai snapped back coldly. "And who always paid for his expensive tutors, his fine ink, and his drinking parties in the capital? The Bai family! This time, your own branch will raise every single tael for his exam fees. That is, if he is even capable of passing it."

Bai Wenjiang flushed red with shame, biting his lip tightly while An Yulan stood frozen beside him, realizing her grand scholar husband was now completely penniless.

The First Great Uncle lifted his wooden staff and slammed it against the floor, silencing the loud, messy complaints.

"Enough crying!" the First Great Uncle declared loudly. "The southeast mansion is large. It has four big, spacious courtyards, more than enough room for each of the branches to live separately under one main roof."

"Three courtyards, three branches, the remaining couryard for for my cousin i and my brother have our own separate houses so you won’t be troubling us," the Second Great Uncle added, his deep voice echoing through the silent, terrified hall. "You will all start from the same ground level. In three days, the carriages leave for the southeast."

"That is all. You are dismissed," Old Madame Bai said coldly, lifting her hand to signal the end of the meeting.

The weeping and frantic hushed arguments among the family members instantly quieted down. Old Madame Bai turned to leave, resting her weight on her wooden staff as Old Master Tianming stepped forward to help escort her.

"Grandmother," a deep, clear voice called out across the silent hall.

Old Madame Bai stopped in her tracks. She turned around slowly, her sharp gaze landing on Zhengyu, who sat calmly in his wooden wheelchair beside Yimei.

"You are locking away the deeds and removing all three branches from the estate," Zhengyu said, his dark eyes steady and unblinking. "So who will take care of the family business while we are gone? Who will run the three branches?"

The rest of the family held their breath, every head snapping between Zhengyu and Old Madame Bai.

A tiny, almost unnoticeable flicker of pride flashed in Old Madame Bai’s eyes before her face hardened back into stone.

"I will do it," Old Madame Bai replied, her voice firm and ringing with total authority. "I have done it once, and I can do it again."

She didn’t wait for another word or question. Turning her back on the entire room, she walked out of the ancestral hall, flanked by the three Great Uncles and Old Master Tianming.

The moment the heavy double doors shut behind them, the hall erupted into chaos once more.

Second Uncle stumbled out supported by Madame Liu, both of them white as ghosts. Bai Ruizhe and Bai Xiuying stomped their feet in rage, while Madame Chen pulled her children together, whispering furiously about how they were going to survive. An Yulan glared at Yimei with pure hatred before dragging her husband, Bai Wenjiang, away toward their quarters.

Yimei stood up slowly, smoothing down her light blue winter dress and pulling her fur cloak around her shoulders. She looked down at Zhengyu, who was watching his panicking relatives disperse with a cool, sharp glint in his dark eyes.

"Liu Feng," Yimei said smoothly, her voice calm and level amidst the noise. "Let us head back to the Northern Courtyard."

"Yes, Young Madame," Liu Feng bowed, stepping behind Zhengyu’s wheelchair to turn it toward the exit.