Chapter 146: Mother Sheng’s Alternative Explanation
The moment Mother Gu saw Wanyan open her eyes, she looked at her affectionately. “What would you like for breakfast, dear? I’ll whip it up for you myself.”
“Mom, I’d love some noodles,” Gu Tingxiao interjected before Wanyan could even open her mouth. He had been craving his mother’s homemade noodles since he was a boy.
“Get lost!” Mother Gu snapped playfully. “I am asking my daughter-in-law what she wants to eat. What does any of this have to do with you?”
“Mom, I want to eat noodles too,” Wanyan chimed in, gently taking Mother Gu’s hand and swaying it with a touch of coquettish charm.
Hearing that soft, sweet voice, how could Mother Gu possibly refuse? She immediately agreed to the menu. “Alright, alright, Mom will make them for you.”
Mother Gu turned and headed straight into the kitchen to get started. She had actually planned to roll out noodles today anyway, but she hadn’t expected her new daughter-in-law to share the exact same craving.
When Wanyan walked downstairs a few minutes later, she found the fresh dough already kneaded on the kitchen counter. In this day and age, having refined white flour to eat was a true luxury; no one in their right mind would be picky. Mother Gu expertly tossed the noodles with fresh eggs and crisp vegetables, and the three of them ate heartily before setting off immediately for the small courtyard alley.
The exact second the Sheng family unlatched their front gate, they found Wanyan, Mother Gu, and Gu Tingxiao standing right on the threshold, their hands raised to knock.
“In-law!” Mother Sheng gasped, unable to believe her eyes. She genuinely hadn’t expected her daughter to be permitted to return for a visit today.
“In-law, do you mind if I crash your family outing today?” Mother Gu asked warmly.
Hearing this, Mother Sheng clapped her thigh in delight, hurrying forward to grasp Mother Gu’s hands. “Mind? How could I possibly mind? I’ve been practically dying for you to join us!”
“You arrived at the absolute perfect moment; we were just about to head out the door.”
“What a wonderful coincidence. Let’s go out and have a beautiful day together.”
Wrapped in Mother Sheng’s enthusiastic hospitality, Wanyan, her husband, and her mother-in-law successfully joined the family excursion. The group had a magnificent time, making a special trip to the Old Summer Palace—a historic site Grandpa Sheng had desperately wanted to see before returning to the south.
But the moment Wanyan laid eyes on the ruined, hollowed-out remnants of the Old Summer Palace, her heart bled. In her previous life, the destruction of this architectural marvel was a universal tragedy, a source of permanent, irreparable regret for generations of citizens. However, reading about it in history books was nothing compared to the raw, visceral impact of witnessing the devastation firsthand in this era. As someone who understood the full weight of what had been lost, her chest tightened with agonizing sorrow.
“What an absolute tragedy…” Grandpa Sheng sighed, staring blankly at the shattered stone columns before shaking his head in helpless grief.
“Let’s move on,” Grandma Sheng murmured, her tone heavy with sorrow. “It hurts too much to stand here and stare at it.” For the older generation who had lived through the fires of foreign invasion, such sights were like a direct stab to the heart.
“Let’s go…” Grandpa Sheng rasped, unable to bear looking a second longer. Every broken archway and scorched brick vividly triggered his own memories of the brutal wars of his youth.
Leaving the palace ruins behind, the atmosphere among the two elders noticeably shifted, their high spirits completely dampened by the weight of the past. Sensing the solemn mood, Mother Gu tactfully redirected the group toward a nearby scenic park, guiding them along a peaceful walking path to help relax their minds.
As they strolled, Mother Sheng noticed the lingering shadow of distress hanging over Mother Gu’s features. “In-law, did something happen to upset you today?” she inquired softly. Normally, Mother Gu was the epitome of grace and warmth, always adorned with a gentle smile; she was far too refined to openly display her vulnerabilities unless something had deeply shaken her core.
“Ams~” Mother Gu sighed heavily, dropping her guard. “It is all because of the separation we had to execute last night.”
“A separation? As in dividing the estate?” Mother Sheng was thoroughly caught off guard. She shot a sharp glance at Wanyan, who was walking alongside them, and her daughter gave a firm, solemn nod to confirm the news.
“In-law, tell me… how did I fail my fourth son?” Mother Gu asked, her voice cracking with suppressed emotion. “As the baby of the family, who among us didn’t coddle him, spoil him, and yield to his every whim since the day he was born? But why on earth does the wife he married look down on our family so thoroughly?”
Mother Gu truly had no one else in her elite compound circle whom she could safely confide in without sparking toxic gossip, so she poured her heart out to her trusted in-law instead.
Hearing the grievance, Mother Sheng’s brows furrowed deeply. Given her in-law’s breakdown, it was painfully obvious that the catalyst for this abrupt family fracture had been none other than that toxic fourth daughter-in-law, Wang Chunmei. Wanyan had only just mentioned the woman’s petty behavior during her brief visit yesterday, and yet, in the span of a single night, the viper had managed to completely shatter the household dynamic.
“In-law, if you look at it from a different angle, splitting up the estate right now might actually be a hidden blessing,” Mother Sheng reasoned gently.
Mother Gu offered a sad, hollow smile, shaking her head. Did she not understand the practical benefits? She was well aware that a separation freed her from the exhausting burden of governing a massive household, and it permanently neutralized any future financial warfare among her three daughters-in-law.
But her heart was broken. She had been deeply, severely wounded by the child into whom she had poured the absolute maximum amount of maternal devotion.
“In-law, we have both reached an age where we must learn to carry ourselves with a lighter spirit,” Mother Sheng urged, her voice dripping with grounded wisdom. “Sometimes, the things we grip onto most tightly aren’t actually what’s best for us.”
“Perhaps if you grant yourself a little more leniency and release the burden, you’ll discover a far more comfortable existence.”
“Some matters are simply meant to fall into their proper places naturally.”
Hearing the profound insight, Mother Gu’s footsteps paused, her mind whirling as she processed the words. Mother Sheng didn’t press her, stepping back into a comfortable silence to allow her friend the space to mentally untangle her grief.
After a long, quiet interval, Mother Gu’s eyes suddenly flared with an unshakeable, brilliant determination. Her in-law was entirely correct. The more one obsessively coddled a child, the less likely that child was to appreciate the sacrifice. Even if a mother bled herself dry for his sake, he would never prioritize her feelings in return; instead, he would simply treat her monumental efforts as an unconditional entitlement.
If that was the reality, why on earth should she continue to torture herself? Why should she allow her own son’s short-sightedness to render her miserable?
That fourth daughter-in-law was thoroughly blind to everything the main house had done to build up the fourth branch, continuously fabricating narratives of imaginary favoritism. Fine, then. If Wang Chunmei was so entirely convinced that she was a biased mother-in-law, Mother Gu resolved to be biased to the absolute end. She was going to show her youngest daughter-in-law the true, devastating meaning of partiality.
Now that the assets had been divided with clinical precision, the future trajectories of her three sons would depend entirely on their own independent merits. Moving forward, she would permanently withhold any parental leverage or institutional backing from her fourth son’s political career. Since Gu Tinghao genuinely believed his third brother received unfair advantages, then he could follow Tingxiao’s example—stepping onto the battlefield of his career and fighting for his own future with his own life.
Exactly how far he climbed would rest entirely on his own shoulders. If a grown descendant of the legendary Gu dynasty lacked the competence to anchor his own household without parental handouts, then he was simply unworthy of carrying the Gu surname!
The moment she fully surrendered the burden, Mother Gu’s entire aura transformed. The heavy weight vanished from her shoulders, and she began to stride down the path with a newfound, commanding energy.
Seeing that her friend had successfully cleared the mental fog, Mother Sheng immediately seized the momentum, eager to reinforce the lesson with a few colorful cautionary tales from her own country village.
“In-law, let me tell you about an old matriarch back in our commune who loved her youngest son above all others,” Mother Sheng began, her tone animated. “But the ultimate result… tsk, tsk, tsk…”
Mother Gu’s curiosity flared instantly. She leaned in, eager for the distraction. “What happened to her?”
“I’m telling you, In-law, that poor woman lived to deeply regret her choices,” Mother Sheng whispered conspiratorially. Mother Gu pricked up her ears, completely absorbed in the unfolding gossip.
“Her youngest boy was coddled from the cradle. The family surrendered whatever he demanded, turning him into an incredibly arrogant, useless brat. The mother favored him so aggressively that she permanently alienated her older, hardworking sons, eventually forcing a bitter family split. At the time, she assumed it was a minor domestic squabble. But guess how it turned out in the end?”
Mother Gu stared at her, desperate for the conclusion. “How?”
Mother Sheng checked the distance between them and the elders walking ahead, ensuring Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao were out of earshot before dropping her voice to a low, dramatic murmur.
“She chose to reside exclusively with that youngest son for her twilight years, completely blind to the fact that her indulgence had ruined him. The boy hit thirty years old without ever holding a proper job, spending his days loitering on the streets. He constantly extorted cash from his mother until he eventually turned to gambling, decimating the family’s ancestral property overnight.”
“By the time the old lady finally realized the depth of her error, it was far too late; the damage was done. In a desperate bid to correct the behavior, she swore she would never indulge his demands again. But how could a boy who had been spoiled rotten his entire life tolerate a sudden refusal?”
Mother Sheng paused for dramatic effect, her eyes wide. “The very second he realized the cash flow had dried up and his mother had stopped pampering him, he didn’t even hesitate. He marched straight into the kitchen, seized a massive cleaver, and tried to chop his own biological mother to pieces!”
