She has achieved her goal.

There's no need to keep pretending anymore.

Yan Xia continued.

"However, I am a kind-hearted person. If I were to let your whole family die in jail, it would be simple but still a sin. So, let He Wanjiang sign the divorce papers, and I will take Lanlan and Jiang Yu with me. I will forgive and forget what happened today, and there will be no more grudges between your He family and me. How about that? As for Lanlan's dowry, I don't care about that little bit of money. From now on, Lanlan will work for me, and I will be able to support her and her daughter."

Yan Xia took the divorce papers from Jin Yu's hands and raised them up as she spoke.

"Manager Yan is right. We're all family, so why are we arguing? The commotion just now was purely a misunderstanding. The maid who came to fetch us was very young and didn't know any better! She couldn't even speak clearly. I thought a thief had broken into the house! Sigh, look at the mess we've made! I'll definitely teach that ignorant maid a lesson later! By the way, you're Manager Yan, right? So you're Lanlan's good friend. I'm so sorry for offending you earlier."

Listening to Manager Yan, you want to take Lanlan away? Well, to be honest, many years ago, Lanlan's father came to my house, saying that he was going to die soon and begged me to let Wanjiang marry her in order to protect Lanlan from being bullied. Out of consideration for our many years of friendship, even though Wanjiang was unwilling, I still agreed to his request. Later, I forced Wanjiang to marry Lanlan. Over the years, although the two of them have treated each other with respect, they have never had any feelings for each other. Otherwise, Wanjiang would not have taken a concubine.

So many years have passed, and Lanlan is safe and healthy. I've done my best to protect her! Since Lanlan wants a divorce, I'll go along with it. But the child, regardless of gender, will always belong to the He family. If you can't bear to part with Yu'er, come back to see her often. After all, what woman leaves with her children after a divorce, right? Alright, Wanjiang, stop lying on the ground groaning. Get up and go to the study to write a divorce agreement! There's no reason to let someone else write such an important document.”

He Shanhu readily agreed, stiffly curving his lips into a smile as he spoke to Yan Xia and the others.

The implication was that he was Lanlan's benefactor, having taken care of her for so many years, yet Lanlan was ungrateful.

"Stop! Who's on your side? There's only one divorce agreement. It's useless for your son to write it. Also, Lanlan has to leave, and Jiang Yu has to leave. You can't choose between the two! You only have two choices: either obediently sign this divorce agreement, or your whole family will end up in jail!"

Yan Xia didn't give He Shanhu any face at all.

She made her point very clearly, leaving He Shanhu no longer able to pretend to be stupid.

Sure enough, He Shanhu saw Yan Xia humiliate him in public.

His lips drooped instantly.

His face was slightly pale.

He remained silent.

"Father! Why are you wasting your breath talking to her? When the officials come, they'll throw her in jail. I refuse to believe that the Governor of Jiangnan would dare to interfere here. What are you afraid of? You slut! I won't sign. Feng will never leave the He family for the rest of her life! From now on, I'll torture her to death, you slut!"

He Wanjiang was helped up by his mother and concubine, Aunt Liu, but the pain in his body could not be relieved.

He clutched his stomach, making threats in a disheveled state.

But the voice was not as loud as before.

It was somewhat weak and powerless, like a river after a drought where only a shallow pool of water remained, and a large fish was leaping happily in the water, unaware that once the pool of water dried up, death would come soon.

"Shut up! You beast!"

"Smack—"

Seeing the anger in Yan Xia's eyes, He Shanhu was shocked.

He walked up to his son and slapped him hard across the face.

And he cursed.

How could a small merchant like them possibly make a fuss about the governor of Jiangnan?

Even if we disregard the fact that Shuxian County belongs to Jiangnan Province and is under the jurisdiction of the governor, if the governor were to come to Shuxian County, the county magistrate would have to wait outside the city gate!

If even the county magistrate behaves this way, what about small merchants like them?

With a single word from the governor, the He family's lives hung in the balance.

Since ancient times, the common people have never fought against the officials.

They even had to curry favor with the government officials.

They weren't even worthy of peeking at the faces of someone of the governor's rank!

He Shanhu couldn't afford to gamble.

Regardless of whether Yan Xia was telling the truth or not, he dared not risk the He family's lives to play along with Yan Xia.

After thinking for a few seconds, he nodded.

"Wanjiang, go, sign the divorce papers, and let Lanlan and Yu'er go."

He Shanhu's voice was hoarse.

When he spoke, the phlegm in his throat made a whooshing sound.

He seemed to have aged seven or eight years in an instant.

"Father! It's her!"

"Slap—" Before He Wanjiang could finish speaking, He Shanhu slapped him again.

"I told you to go, so go! What, you don't listen to your father anymore? When did it become your place to make decisions in this family? I'm not dead yet! If you don't sign, then take Liu and get out of the He family's gate! I still have a grandson, so at worst, the He family's assets will be left to Wei'er!"

He Shanhu was truly enraged this time.

Previously, his son insisted on taking Liu as a concubine, and he couldn't resist his wife's persistent pleading, so he agreed. However, after taking the concubine, his son never stepped into Feng's room again.

This has resulted in the He family now having only Wei'er as their sole heir.

Liu is useless.

He had been unable to have children for many years, yet his dim-witted son doted on and pampered the prostitutes in the brothel.

After the family shop was handed over to him, he managed it terribly.

Otherwise, the family wouldn't have fallen so low, reduced to selling off the servants in the mansion to make a living.

In order to raise enough money, he even gave away his only granddaughter to someone else as a concubine for thirty taels of silver.

This spendthrift son has completely disgraced the He family.

He Shanhu was not stupid; in fact, he was extremely intelligent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to build such a business empire through his own efforts. He saw Feng Lanlan being bullied but never intervened. After all, his friend was dead, and no one would stand up for Lanlan. Worthless people weren't worth his effort.

Although He Shanhu is intelligent, he has a major flaw: he spoils his children.

Can he admit it?

Of course not.

So He Shanhu rushed up to Lu Shi.

Just like when they attacked He Wanjiang.

He slapped Ms. Lu several times.

The slap made half of her face swell up instantly.

"It's all your fault! You've spoiled Wanjiang rotten! If you had treated Lanlan properly back then, would she be like this? Just you wait and see, this spendthrift son will ruin the family sooner or later! He had to bring in a filthy prostitute, who hasn't even laid a child in all these years. Her body has probably been ruined by her clients. Your son is so stupid, marrying a used woman and treating her like a treasure! Bah!"

These words not only insulted Madam Lu, but also He Wanjiang and Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu's face turned pale and then red.

Her meticulously manicured, long, and sharp nails dug deep into her palms as she clenched her fists, turning a deep crimson.

But nobody cared.

“Father, Liu Shi is virgin! She bled when we slept together, you know that. Why bring up something from years ago? What about your son? Wei’er is married now, and you still scold me like this. How can I be the head of the family in the future? Who will trust me?”