Chapter 357: Separation
Although Xie Xin said this, the Cao family was still quite frightened.
As soon as Xie Xin left, Madam Cao called Cao Sanlang to the ancestral hall. "I told you from the beginning that you couldn't marry the concubine's children, but you refused to listen. Now what? Are you trying to kill our family?"
The more Mrs. Cao spoke, the more regretful she felt.
She shouldn't have been soft-hearted at that time.
After his son made a fuss, he agreed to let his son marry the concubine's daughter of the Meng family.
Cao Sanlang knelt on the ground, "Mother, I was also deceived by her at the beginning. The Meng family kept it a secret, and I had no idea that her mother was a prostitute. I thought her mother was really a lady in trouble. Although she is a concubine's daughter, a girl raised by a lady from a famous family must be good. Who knew she was so shallow and actually did such a thing? Don't worry, I will divorce her now and will never let her bring trouble to the Cao family."
Mrs. Cao was filled with disappointment when she saw her son putting all the blame on his wife.
If he could recognize his mistake at this time and find a way to remedy it, he would still be considered responsible.
But he was determined to marry Meng, but after she came into his family, he did not teach her well. Instead, he became like her, short-sighted, not down-to-earth, and only thinking about getting benefits.
Now that something has happened, they put all the blame on the woman.
She really spoiled her son.
Madam Cao was heartbroken. "Do you think divorcing Meng Shi will be enough? Rui and his brothers will never be able to hold their heads up high with a mother like this. The other children of the Cao family will also be implicated."
Cao Sanlang had a bad feeling in his heart, "What does mother mean?"
Madam Cao sighed and said, "Call your elder and second brothers over later and let's divide the family business!"
In fact, the husband had long been disappointed with the second and third wives and had long wanted to split up the family.
It was because of her womanly kindness that she didn't listen to her husband and wanted him to protect them for a few more years.
Unexpectedly, because of her soft-heartedness, she almost ruined the entire Cao family.
Cao Sanlang was suddenly panicked. "Mom, how can we divide the family? If this gets out, won't it mean that our sons are unfilial?"
Except for Cao Lesheng, the other three sons of the Cao family have no talent in developing weapons.
Although Cao Dalang did not have the talent for developing weapons, he was a steady person and was willing to live a down-to-earth life.
But Cao Erlang and Cao Sanlang are people who have no abilities, but they have lofty ambitions.
He was not diligent in his studies and was afraid of hard work when learning martial arts. He relied on Cao Lesheng to find a job and spent his days fishing for three days and casting nets for two days.
With his personality, he could barely make it in the capital, but in Lingnan, there was no place for him. His family's livelihood depended entirely on the public school.
"Do you think that if we don't split up the family, it will sound good? Okay, I've made up my mind, and you don't need to say anything more. If you are truly filial, then kneel down and reflect on your actions, think about how to live your future, and don't embarrass me and your father again."
Mrs. Cao sighed again after she finished speaking. Her son was already this old, his personality had already been formed, and now...
I'm afraid it's too late to say anything.
When people usually split up their family, they would have to ask the elders of the clan to be witnesses. However, the Cao family did not move to Taiwan together.
Cao Lesheng thought about it and finally found a few local officials to serve as witnesses.
Under the witness of local officials, the Cao family quickly divided up their property. The Cao family had already fallen on hard times and did not have much property.
After coming to Lingnan, although Lu Shiyan and Jiang Tangtang often rewarded Cao Lesheng, except for Cao Dalang who was assigned to do odd jobs in the weapons department because of his honesty and diligence, the other two brothers of the Cao family had no servants and relied entirely on their parents for support.
In addition, the Cao family had not been in Lingnan for very long, and the family's expenses were high, so they did not have much money left.
Apart from the house allocated to the Cao family by the government, all other money and property were divided into four parts, one part each for Cao Lesheng and his wife and the third wife.
In this era, family division is rare, and the Cao family's division method is even more strange.
Is there anyone who divides up the family property and leaves no son behind to support them in their old age?
The officials who came to serve as witnesses were all puzzled, and some even advised Cao Lesheng to at least keep a son to take care of him in his old age.
But Cao Lesheng had made up his mind and said that he wanted to break up.
However, he did not abandon his sons. Instead, he set a time and asked his grandsons to report to him every two days. He would personally test their homework.
Whoever performs the best will inherit his mantle and will be taken care of in his old age, and all his wealth will belong to him.
Originally, because of the division of the family, Cao Erlang and Cao Sanlang seemed to have lost their souls. However, after listening to their father's words, they seemed to see hope again and began to study hard with their children.
Without Cao Lesheng as their father to rely on, the two had to be responsible for their daily expenses.
Although some of the family property was divided, they still had to buy a house.
After buying the house, there was not much money or rice left.
The two brothers had no choice but to put aside their pride and go out to find work. They were much more at ease than before.
On the other hand, after Lu Shiyan captured Cao Meng, he did not arrange for anyone else to interrogate her, but went to interrogate her personally.
Mrs. Meng was frightened, and Lu Shiyan got all the information without much effort.
Meng passed the message to Xiao Ye because she always felt that the throne still belonged to the Xiao family and had nothing to do with the Lu family.
She wanted to rely on the merit of passing the message to Xiao Ye to have a seat in the most powerful circle in the capital in the future, so that she could be proud and become a noble lady that everyone envied.
But she was not a smart person. She just passed on all the information she knew, but she did not do what Xiao Ye did, who almost discovered Jiang Tangtang's secret through these information.
Even so, Lu Shiyan did not let her live.
When Cao Sanlang heard the news of Meng's death, he didn't feel sad at all. Instead, he felt relieved. He no longer had to worry about finding a reason to divorce Meng.
Lu Shiyan and Jiang Tangtang did not disclose the fact that Meng was a spy. This allowed the Cao family to save face, and their descendants would not be influenced by Meng.
Cao Lesheng was extremely grateful to Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan, and was even more attentive to the weapons institute and the oil workshop.
After being busy with the oil workshop for many days, Jiang Tangtang finally had some free time to tell Su about his thoughts on cactus.
Su was faintly excited. "You mean to make canned pickles from the cactus and sell them? If they sell well, you can open a workshop and keep growing the cacti in the fields without having to pull them out?"
"You can also pull it out and plant it somewhere else. Cactus is very easy to grow, has low soil requirements, and is drought-tolerant. There should be many places on the island suitable for cactus cultivation."
Jiang Tangtang said, "The rubble on the island, or on the city walls. The cactus is covered with thorns, so it might provide an unexpected defensive effect. But this is just my personal thought. I won't know if it will work until I try it first."
Jiang Tangtang was not one to be careless when it came to defense. Therefore, he felt that the idea of planting cacti on the outer wall needed to be tested before it could be implemented.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
