The Si family.
After their property was confiscated, the Si family lost its former splendor and could only rely on help from friends and relatives to live in a somewhat larger courtyard house.
They ate poorly and slept poorly.
Elder Si, the elderly mother of the Si Family Head killed in Three Turtles Devour Zhou, now oversaw the entire family.
For the white-haired to bury the gray-haired was naturally painful, but a year and a half had passed since the confiscation. Life still had to go on.
Their property was gone, and only women and a handful of young men remained in the household. A few years earlier, the women would all have had to kill themselves for the family to scrape by. Fortunately, women's standing had now improved, and they had ways to earn a living, allowing them to barely get by.
Elder Si slowly worked the needle and thread in her hands. Her feelings toward King Zhou were complicated. Without him, the Si family would not have fallen into ruin, but without his mercy in merely confiscating their property, Bo Yi would have killed their entire family. After all, the Si Family Head's crime had been treason.
"But this family..." She sighed. "How much longer can this family hold on? The Si family is finished. Ah..."
Having their property confiscated was not actually the worst of it. Life was harder, but they could still scrape by. The real problem was how few people remained in the family.
With so few people, carrying on the family line became difficult. King Zhou had not slaughtered them outright, but after two or three generations, their dwindling numbers would leave little difference between this and a massacre.
Elder Si had spent most of her life dining to the chime of bells, with