Why couldn’t they divide the family? Because…

“The clan chief refused.” Gu Yundongshu hung his head low, his eyes reddened with resentment when he mentioned the clan chief.

The current clan chief of the Gu family had a private grudge against Gu’s father, Gu Dajiang, and would always press them hard on anything.

When Gu Dajiang was six years old, he was noticed by the only old scholar in the village. He said Gu Dajiang had a talent for studying, and with proper cultivation, his future prospects would be limitless.

Old Master Gu was somewhat tempted, but Zhao Shi disagreed. If Gu Dajiang had a future, wouldn’t her son be suppressed to death? In the future, she would still have to live under his influence.

She threw tantrums and refused to relent, saying the family was poor and couldn’t afford to buy paper and pens for studying, and Gu Dajiang had to help with the household chores and had no time.

Old Master Gu soon compromised, and it was then that the old clan chief, in his eighties, stepped forward and severely reprimanded the two of them.

“To have a scholar with prospects in the family is a matter of great honor for the ancestors. Our ancestors are watching from above, how can we let a woman destroy it? In the future, when you pass the imperial examination and become an official, you can also bless the children of the Gu family. Just think about how much glory the Gu family will have.”

The old clan chief intervened forcefully, and writing materials were provided by the clan. The old scholar didn’t ask for Gu Dajiang’s tuition fees, so he took Gu Dajiang as his student and coached him wholeheartedly.

But the good times didn’t last long. After studying for five years, when Gu Dajiang was about to take the township examination, the old clan chief passed away. He himself was in poor health and caught a cold two months later, leading to his death.

The current clan chief took office by dubious means. At that time, he also wanted the old scholar to take his son as a student, but his son was not cut out for studying, so the old scholar politely refused.

However, for some reason, this matter became a joke and spread. His son was compared to Gu Dajiang, and he was called a fool. Unable to bear the ridicule, his son had a tantrum at home and bumped into his pregnant wife, causing her to lose the child.

There was no way to blame his son for this, and the source of the rumor couldn’t be found, so all the blame was pushed onto Gu Dajiang and the old scholar.

After the successive deaths of the old clan chief and the old scholar, Gu Dajiang naturally couldn’t continue his studies. The current clan chief didn’t even let him take the township examination, and he was trapped at home by Zhao Shi to do chores.

Later, by a fortunate coincidence, he was noticed by the owner of a restaurant in town and became the accountant with the few years of literacy he had.

Gu Dajiang’s studies were not in vain. He knew that their family was not living well, so he had been looking for opportunities to divide the family.

When Yangshi gave birth to Gu Yundong, she had a premature birth due to being beaten by Zhao Shi, and nearly died from excessive bleeding. Because of that incident, Yangshi’s health deteriorated, and she didn’t have any children for many years. It wasn’t until Gu Yundong was eight years old that Gu Yundongshu was born.

It was also at that time that Gu Dajiang forcefully divided the family.

However, two months later, when Old Master Gu found that there was no one to do the household chores, he regretted it and refused to acknowledge the division.

The current clan chief and village head tore up the family division documents on the spot and merged Gu Dajiang back. If Gu Dajiang disagreed, he would be charged with unfilial conduct, and the entire family would be expelled from the clan.

Expelled from the clan!!!

Without a family, they were like rootless floating weeds, unable to fulfill the saying of falling leaves returning to their roots.

This was a very serious matter. They had to go to the yamen to register, and the stigma would follow them for the rest of their lives. Regardless of Gu Dajiang himself, his children would always be looked down upon, pointed at, treated as inferior, and have difficulty in marriage.