Chapter 181

Chapter 181

With her natal family backing her and the Sun clan relatives flipping sides, Seventh Aunt Han successfully secured the inheritance rights for her grandson.

What was left was cleaning up the concubines and their kids in the household.

However, Seventh Aunt Han was also a person who knew exactly who to thank and who to hate.

Her main targets were those like Concubine Dai, who had stepped on others to climb up, bullied the main family line, and harmed her son and grandson.

As for those who had stayed in their lane and never kicked her when she was down, she did not deliberately make things difficult for them, making arrangements for them by the book.

But even so, those concubines and their children did not have an easy time.

The reason was simple: the Sun family had gone to seed.

Most of the Suns' money-making businesses were being propped up by Seventh Aunt Han's hefty dowry from way back. When she took back all her dowry, what was left of the Sun family's assets shrank big time.

Moreover, Sun Kangsheng had more than twenty concubine-born sons. When that already thin pot was split evenly among them, each person received only a thin share—barely enough to keep up appearances!

The older concubine-born sons, led by Sun Yaozu, naturally weren't having any of it.

But Seventh Aunt Han shut them up with one line:

"The Sun family's assets are only this much—it's all in black and white, not a penny can be faked. If you're dissatisfied, go dig up your dead daddy and argue with him! There's no way in this world a concubine's son gets a cut of his legitimate mother's dowry!"

A dowry was a girl's or boy's personal property. Unless they were formally adopted or had their name put on it, only kids born to the legal wife could inherit it. If there were no children, it had to be returned to the natal family upon death.

Why else would pampered concubines be so keen on scheming against the wife's kids?

Being "legitimate" wasn't just about status—there was a ton of money riding on it. Not everyone was a lovesick idiot fighting for attention just for some lousy d*ck.

At the end of the day, it was all about the money.

In the end, Sun Yaozu and the others could only pack their bags and storm out of the Sun house, fuming, vowing in their hearts to get even for this humiliation one day.

But they were so caught up in their rage they missed the cold, calculating look in Seventh Aunt Han's eyes.

She'd lost all her kids and grandkids except two—one grandson and one granddaughter. Did Concubine Dai's brats really think they'd get to live easy?

Dream on!

After kicking out the ones she had a grudge against, she turned to the concubines and their kids who'd never done her wrong but were now all worried and lost over their puny cut of the inheritance.

After consideration, Seventh Aunt Han picked out a few branches that had both skill and decent character, and called them in for a chat.

"Now that the situation in the household is settled, I won't beat around the bush with you. Over the years in this household, your branches never helped out in hard times, but you also never kicked anyone when they were down—that's already pretty rare in this household."

"What I hate was never concubines or their kids—it's people like Concubine Dai who didn't know their place. My grandson Xing Wang might be old enough to head the household, but one post can't hold up a house by itself, and those clan relatives are just circling like vultures."

"I'll speak plainly here today—if you're willing to sincerely assist Xing Wang and help restore the Sun family's prestige, I won't treat you unfairly. I'll give you the respect and a future you deserve. That's way better than being cut loose with nobody to lean on."

"Conversely, if you think you've got big dreams and don't want to answer to anyone, I won't stop you either. You can take your cut of the family silver and go make something of yourselves."

Seventh Aunt Han wasn't as tough as her older siblings, Eighth and Ninth Aunt and Uncle, but she was still a proper lady raised with a full family education, and she knew full well that one person can't hold up a whole house.

For her grandson to protect the family fortune with wolves circling from every side, he was gonna need his blood uncles and brothers to back him up—especially since those Sun clan relatives couldn't be trusted worth a damn.

For the concubines and concubine-born children summoned before her, getting to stay was obviously way better than being cut out of the family!

After all, not everyone could just start over from nothing.

Moreover, most of them had been maidservants or page boys in origin, or had been singing girls bought out of brothels back in the day. Most of their birth families were broke and useless, or had cut ties with them long ago.

If they left the Sun house, even with silver in their pockets, they'd have nobody to turn to, and the bleakness of their future days could almost be foreseen.

In this world, money alone wasn't enough to live well—you needed someone to back you.

"Madam is so kind and fair-minded! We'll give our all to serve you, Madam, and help the young master!"

"Honored Mother/Grandmother, your son/grandson will be filial to you from now on and do whatever you say!"

The branches that were summoned responded with almost no hesitation, their faces lit up as they dropped to their knees, crying happy tears and swearing loyalty.

Even if the Suns had fallen hard, they were still a big-name clan in Quyang Prefecture.

Moreover, now that the legitimate wife's natal family had returned, the Suns had picked up another powerful in-law connection. Even if they couldn't get rich later, things wouldn't get worse than they were now. Only a fool would leave the clan!

Over the next few days,

the Han family all pitched in to help Seventh Aunt Han get the Sun household in order.

Once these matters were settled, the prep and rundown for the ancestor rites, plus the roster of Han clan members scattered around Quyang Prefecture, were just about done.

The Han family then gathered at the old Han ancestral grounds to conduct the ancestral sacrifice ceremony.

Sure enough, Han Zhang stood front and center with Xiao Tao'er, offering the first stick of incense to the Han ancestors as their representative.

Thin wisps of smoke curled up, and the old ancestral hall felt heavy and solemn.

Han Zhang recited the sacrificial prayer with a dead-serious face: "Ancestors above, your unworthy descendant Han Qinzhang brings the clan back to our roots today, swearing our purpose with incense and fire—"

"...From here on, I'll use my head and my blood to pave the way for the Han clan's comeback! Even if I'm ground to dust, I won't regret it! I'll lead the clan to bring back the glory of the Han name. No Han clan member will ever again be forced to wander or be pushed around! We humbly offer this sacrifice!"

But inside, he was thinking:

"Hey, Han ancestors up there, I might be a soul from another world, but the blood in my veins now is Han blood, so by that logic, I'm basically a Han."

"So with your spirits up there, you better bless my rebellion and make it work. Otherwise, this kid's gonna have to drag the Han clan's nine generations down to the underworld with me to say sorry to you old folks."

Clan Chief Han and Grandpa Han held up their incense, silently praying too:

"Ancestors, you gotta show some divine power. Please bless Big Brother and let everything go smooth. Whether the Han clan can turn things around is all on you ancestors—get busy and pull some strings down in the underworld!"

The Han ancestors down in the Nine Springs: ...

Quit praying—the ancestors are already out there selling their dignity left and right!

...

Once the ancestor rites were done, the Han family didn't stick around in Quyang Prefecture.

They'd already burned so many days here, and stuff had piled up back in Yunyang Prefecture. After saying their goodbyes to the aunts and uncles, everyone packed up, climbed into the carriages, and headed back to Yunyang Prefecture in a big procession.

The carriage wheels rumbled and ground over the main road.

Inside the carriage, Han Zhang dropped the cool, hard act, giving up the soft seat to Shen Qinglan while he sat across, cuddling the chubby little Xiao Tao'er.

He looked at Shen Qinglan's slightly weary brow, his heart aching for him: "These past few days, between ancestor worship and helping the aunts get the Sun family's household and estates in order, you've worked hard."

The current aunts of the Han family were all sharp and capable women.

But before he appeared, the Han family in the capital had been ordinary farmers. No matter how capable the wives and grooms they brought in were, their humble origins and limited experience meant they weren't used to running a big household.

These past few days, a lot of the Sun family's business had to be handled with Shen Qinglan's help.

But Shen Qinglan was more than happy to pitch in. His bright, pretty almond eyes sparkled as he looked at Han Zhang, beaming with pride:

"No trouble at all! I'm really happy to help my husband, and I've learned a ton from Eighth Aunt and Ninth Uncle. Seventh Aunt even said I'm a great help to you!"

He wanted to help his husband because the more indispensable he became, the less likely his husband would ever leave him.

Just like his own father—even when his mother scolded him harshly, he couldn't bear to cast her out.

Seeing how proud he looked, Han Zhang couldn't help smiling and nodding: "You really are my right hand, my love. Without you, I wouldn't have this good life now. How many lifetimes of blessings must I have accumulated to have found you?"

"It must be this many nine-nine-nine-nine-nine... nine lifetimes!"

Shen Qinglan spread his arms out wide, making a huge circle with his hands to show just how many.

"Ah... ah... ya!"

Little Xiao Tao'er, held in Han Zhang's arms, seemed to catch on to the lively mood. His dark, grape-like eyes darted between his two dads.

Then he suddenly broke into a toothless grin, letting out a gurgling laugh, and his chubby little hands patted together twice, as if cheering his dad on.

Shen Qinglan leaned in excitedly: "Husband, look! Our little Tao'er is clapping! Do you think he understood us?"

"Seems like he did." Han Zhang found it amusing too, and leaned down to tease his son, "Xiao Tao'er, come on, clap again for your dads."

"Pat, pat—"

Xiao Tao'er blinked and actually clapped twice more. It was a little clumsy, but he'd clearly understood the command.

Shen Qinglan was thrilled: "He really understood! Husband, is our little Tao'er some kind of child prodigy?"

After all, no regular one-month-old could be this sharp.

"A child of mine and my husband's is bound to be gifted..."

Han Zhang was pleased but not particularly surprised.

Because both he and the original owner of this body were smart, and while his husband was a bit of a lovesick fool, he was actually pretty clever.

As long as nothing went wrong in the genetics, their child wouldn't be dull.

Besides, the kid had been nurtured with his Power the whole pregnancy, so it made sense his body and mind were stronger and sharper than other kids'.

After all, the apocalypse had brought destruction, but it had also brought evolution. Many children born to ability-user couples in his past life had reached the intelligence of several-year-olds right at birth.

Their little Xiao Tao'er's behavior was only to be expected.

"Good boy."

Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan leaned down, each planting a gentle kiss on one of their son's soft, tender cheeks.

Feeling the love from both his fathers, Xiao Tao'er giggled again, his little hands grasping at the air as he made cheerful sounds: "Ah ya... ah ah..."

The father-son trio played joyfully in the carriage.