Chapter 993: Chapter 993: Two Fine Horses

Ms. Yu did have objections–while the family stayed together, she managed everything, and all three daughters-in-law had to listen to her.

Once the family split, she couldn’t call the shots anymore and would need to ask Ms. Mei for money. How could that work?

At first, Ms. Yu tried to persuade them earnestly, but when that failed, she resorted to crying, yelling, and threatening suicide. That did have some effect temporarily.

However, the outcome ultimately didn’t change, as Ms. Mei had spent enough time with her mother-in-law to know her weaknesses.

Ms. Mei insisted on dividing the family estate–if she didn’t, she would risk going to jail, and she’d drag Ms. Yu down with her.

From then on, this pair of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law thoroughly fell out with each other.

Over the past two days, Ms. Yu was so angered that she took to her sickbed, but she still had to continue living with the eldest branch of the family.

This was because the eldest branch retained the lion’s share during the division, meaning it was their responsibility to care for the elderly. Although Ms. Mei didn’t like her mother-in-law, she didn’t want the bulk of the assets to later fall into the hands of the third branch. On top of that, the dowry and private property of her mother-in-law were significant; Ms. Mei wouldn’t miss those opportunities.

The third branch of the family reached a consensus quickly, enabling the split to happen soon.

The eldest branch received two-thirds of the estate, while the remaining one-third was split equally between the second and third branches.

Third Young Master Fan didn’t mind how much they got. After discussing with Ding Yuehua, they decided to give the second sister-in-law one extra storefront, so she would have some financial breathing room. After all, Ms. Mo’s daughter would be old enough for marital negotiations in a few years, and having money at hand would give her confidence. Besides, as a single woman raising children, her life was inherently more difficult.

The Fan family owned two kiln factories; the eldest branch took the larger one, and Third Young Master Fan naturally fought to claim the smaller one–he planned to use it as a foundation for his future ventures.

Ding Yuehua shared, “After the division, I returned home with him and told my parents about this matter. My father scolded us, but after my husband spoke privately with him for half a day in the study, my father stopped saying anything. He even told us that if we encountered difficulties, we could come to him.”

Later, he even gave them silver notes worth 10,000 taels.

Shu Yu marveled inwardly–so wealthy! To casually provide financial support to the tune of 10,000 taels…

Rich people in small county towns truly abound.

But seeing her close friend successfully split from the family, Shu Yu felt genuinely happy for her.

“Oh yes, when I went back home this time, I asked my sister-in-law about something. She said that if we want good horses, we might need to wait a little longer. In about half a month, two freshly tamed wild horses might be delivered–supposedly very beautiful and recently come of age. One of them is even white. This news isn’t widely known yet, so I asked her to make sure to reserve them for me. In half a month, I’ll go to Donggu County myself to bring them back for you.”

That would be just a few days before Yu’s Coming-of-age Day.

Upon hearing about good horses, Shu Yu’s eyes immediately lit up.

But then…

“Not expensive, right?”

Ding Yuehua slapped her forehead. “Listen to yourself–you’re already a Village Chief, yet you’re still so stingy. It’s just a horse, and you’re dithering over the expense. Who’d believe it if they heard?”

Shu Yu sighed, “Ever since I returned from the southwest, I’ve been spending non-stop: renovating the house, fixing the ancestral graves, buying a manor, and acquiring storefronts–these are all major expenses. Let me be generous once I start earning money again. For now, I’ll have to hold back a little.”

Then she asked again, “Not expensive, right?”

Ding Yuehua was on the verge of rolling her eyes. “I’m giving you these two horses as a gift–you don’t need to pay anything.”

“That’s not acceptable.”

“Why not? You didn’t even hold us accountable over the incident with the blueprints. If I give you the two horses, you’re still not happy? If you refuse them again, don’t bother asking me for anything in the future.”

Shu Yu had brought up the blueprint matter with Ding Yuehua earlier–that it was drawn by Lu Erbai based on Shu Yu’s descriptions and wasn’t related to Lord Yao.

Nonetheless, the third branch of their family could still leverage this issue to extract some money from Ms. Mei.