The Prodigy of the Hidden Realm

The real difficulty lay in the fact that Old Man Harold Emerson, Lily's grandfather, had passed away the previous year.

In this era, when a parent died, their children were required to observe a three-year mourning period. During this time, they could continue their studies, but they were prohibited from taking any civil exams.

Because of this, and without the financial support from Old Man Harold Emerson, the family was struggling. The money from transcribing books was drying up, and things had only gotten worse. Since the civil exams were still two years away, Thomas Emerson, Lily's father, decided to return to the village and seek refuge with his elderly mother. They couldn't afford to keep renting in the town.

"This is your Aunt Clara and Aunt Sylvia," Mary said, hastily guiding her children to greet the relatives.

The children obediently bowed, their faces a mix of politeness and curiosity.

When Old Man Harold Emerson had passed, Emily was too young to travel, so she had been left at Mary's parents' house. This was Emily's first time back at the family home.

Before anyone could say anything, a bratty voice suddenly shouted, "Give me candy!"

Lily followed the voice and saw an eight-year-old boy with an arrogant expression, his hand stretched out toward Mary, demanding candy.

Immediately, everyone's face shifted, especially Thomas and Mary, who seemed utterly mortified.

"Little rascal, your uncle and aunt just returned. Why are you causing trouble? Go play somewhere else!" Thomas' older brother, John Emerson, shot a stern glare at his son.

"But Mom said so! Uncle's family came back from town, so Aunt must have treats. I want candy! I want candy!" Little Aiden, John's son, threw a tantrum, refusing to leave until he got his way.

As usual, he was spoiled, and when he threw a fit, his parents would indulge him and bring him whatever he wanted.

"Cough, cough. What nonsense are you saying? Shrew, what kind of nonsense are you teaching your son?" John's face turned bright red as he shot a look of reproach at his wife, Clara.

"This is not my fault. It must be Susan who's being greedy, and she tricked Aiden into asking for treats," Clara immediately deflected, her voice filled with embarrassment.

Susan, their eldest daughter, was twelve years old. Because of their preference for sons over daughters, Susan had been regularly scolded and mistreated, while her younger brother, Aiden, was spoiled.

Susan, who had just returned from gathering pigweed, overheard the conversation as she entered the yard and immediately felt her eyes sting with tears.

"Mom..." she hesitated but continued to carry the large basket of pigweed inside.

"What are you calling me for? You little good-for-nothing, all you do is teach your brother to beg for food. Why don't you just starve to death?" Clara snapped, glaring at her daughter.

"I... I..." Susan opened her mouth but didn't dare to argue.

"Alright, alright," Mary interjected, trying to ease the tension. "I brought some osmanthus cakes for the children. Let them eat."

Even though Mary knew this was just Clara making excuses, she swallowed her displeasure. After all, their family had just returned to the village, and with Thomas donot know how to work the land, they would have to rely on John and Frank.

"Oh, you're too kind, Mary," Clara said with a fake smile, quickly accepting the cakes.

Susan was aware that these cakes were meant for her son, Aiden. The cakes, which likely cost six or seven coins, were clearly for him alone.

However, Frank's wife, Sylvia, seemed a bit annoyed that the cakes were handed out entirely to Aiden, especially since they had no children of their own. But, as always, she kept her thoughts to herself.

Aiden, having received the cakes, quickly stood up, stuck his tongue out at Mary in a teasing manner, and skipped away, munching on his prize.

"Cough, cough. My son is spoiled, don't mind him," John said awkwardly, trying to brush off the situation.

"It's alright, John. Eight-year-old boys are naturally mischievous," Mary replied softly, though she couldn't help feeling a bit resentful. While she didn't like the way John's family carried themselves, she was forced to smile and pretend to agree.

Lily and the other children exchanged looks of disappointment. After all, those osmanthus cakes had cost their mother several days' worth of earnings.

They didn't even say thank you, and now they were treating their mother this way!

"Enough," Grandma Abigail interjected. "Let's get the things into the west room. Wash up and come eat."

Though Abigail wanted to reprimand her second grandson, she knew better than to offend her eldest son. With a sharp look at Clara, she decided to shift the topic.

"I've already cleared out the west room. You two, Thomas and Mary, stay for a few more days. I'll have your older brother repair the house by the mountain corner."

Her words stunned everyone in the room, including Abigail.

She turned to look at John, her face confused. "What's this, John? Are you going to make your brother live at the foot of the mountain?"

John avoided her gaze. "Mom, we've divided the family, right? It's not appropriate for Thomas and his family to live with us."

"You've got to be kidding me! What do you mean, 'we're all family'? Isn't Thomas your brother? I'm still alive, and you're already acting like he has no place to stay!"

"That shack at the foot of the hill is falling apart! How is anyone supposed to live there? You heartless bastard, I'll beat some sense into you!"

As Abigail spoke, she grabbed a water-carrying pole from the side and swung it toward John.

"Go ahead and beat me all you want, but I'm in the right! When Father passed and the family split up, it was made crystal clear that the old house belonged to the eldest son."

"Now that Third Brother's family has moved out, why is Second Brother still living in the old house?"

"And it's not like I'm ignoring brotherly ties—I already said I'd help fix up that shack for Second Brother!"

If he had just shut up and taken the beating, things might have gone better for him. But hearing his smug, self-righteous nonsense nearly made Grandma Sun faint from rage.

"I'll beat you to death, you little bastard! What kind of sin did I commit to give birth to such an ungrateful wretch? Listen to yourself—do you even sound human?" Her hands trembled with fury as she raised the wooden stick and struck John's back with all her strength.

John yelped in pain.

Seeing her husband getting beaten, Clara had had enough.

"Mom, Father favored Second Brother when he was alive—always secretly helping him out. Fine, I kept my mouth shut about that. But now you expect us to keep supporting him too? Even if we took this to the village chief, there's no way it would be fair for Second Brother to get everything while we're left with nothing but scraps!"

She yanked her husband behind her and stood her ground, fierce and unyielding.

"You ungrateful wretch!" Abigail exploded, grabbing a nearby stick and raising it as if to strike John.

"You're right. We did divide the property when your father passed, but we gave the ancestral home and five acres of water fields to you, and ten acres of water fields to the third branch. What did the second branch get? One acre of water field and two acres of dry land!"

Abigail's fury built with each word as she glared at her sons and their wives.

"I don't care if you're dissatisfied, but if you want to trade properties, let's go to the village chief and settle it. I'll see who's in the wrong!"