Chapter 14: The Fool Was Actually Herself

“She’s just lucky.”

Song Jiuli curled her lip, her mind still on the image of Jiang Wan shamelessly clinging to her brother.

Shen Qian was also filled with resentment. “That’s true, but the officials don’t seem to think so.”

Song Jiuli fell silent. She knew that the officials treating Jiang Wan well was actually beneficial for their family.

Not drawing out Song Jiuli’s response, Shen Qian became irritated, cursing her internally, but still acting warmly and saying, “Li’er, although we’ve separated our household, I am still your sister-in-law. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ve never liked Jiang Wan, and I’m not afraid of offending her.”

“Mm.”

Song Jiuli answered softly, glancing back at Jiang Wan, who was talking with her mother. Her feelings were complicated.

Although she resented Jiang Wan, she wasn’t stupid. Even though Shen Qian was advising her now, it clearly wasn’t out of pure goodwill, so she didn’t make any promises.

This irritated Shen Qian even more, but she couldn’t openly stir things up. It seemed she would have to take a more gradual approach.

That evening, they were fortunate. They reached a tavern outside the city just before nightfall. Ren Bang went in to negotiate and then came out to inform everyone, “The shared bedding is five copper coins per person for the night. You’ll need to pay it yourselves.”

As for the officials, they naturally had their own rooms, and no one dared to object, quickly taking out their money.

At this point, everyone had a bit of silver on them since they were just exiled, except for their family.

After all, when they were exiled, no relatives came to see them off, which made Song Daniu somewhat anxious.

Shen Qian deliberately asked, “Master, what if someone can’t afford the silver?”

“Then they can sleep in the cow shed,” Ren Bang replied bluntly. He was known for being fair, and he had already turned a blind eye to Jiang Wan.

“Jiang sister, I’ll pay for you.”

Little Deng was very grateful to Jiang Wan, but Jiang Wan knew she couldn’t keep using kindness to profit off of it. So, she smiled and shook her head.

“Thank you, Little Deng, but we can pay for ourselves.”

Saying this, she pulled a piece of silver from her hair, right in front of everyone.

The others:!!!

They hadn’t expected her to hide silver there, in her wrapped-up hair.

Was her hair a treasure chest?

Even Song Daniu and Song Jiuli stared in shock, utterly amazed!

Shen Qian’s face twisted in anger. She had wanted to see Jiang Wan make a fool of herself, but the fool turned out to be her own self?

The silver was exchanged for copper coins, and Jiang Wan easily paid for the five family members’ stay. However, the conditions in the shared room almost made her gag.

The large room had two rows of beds, one of which was connected to ten dirt pits. There were dirty, smelly blankets on top, most likely never cleaned for a long time.

The blankets even emitted a foul odor. Not to mention Jiang Wan, these pampered people had never slept under such blankets. They all looked horrified.

“Master, can we pay silver to sleep upstairs?”

Shen Qian pitifully looked at Ren Bang, but he remained unmoved, raising an eyebrow and asking in return, “What do you think?”

Exiled people wanted to sleep in private rooms?

The words hit like shards of ice, and Shen Qian didn’t dare to speak further. She obediently entered the room.

There were exactly twenty beds, enough for the entire Song family. Song Jiuli placed Song Jiuyuan on the bed furthest inside.

Jiang Wan thought Song Jiuyuan would have trouble adjusting, but to her surprise, he lay down without changing his expression.

Song Jiuli started crying again, “Big Brother, these blankets smell awful!”

She had never slept under such dirty blankets before. They even had stains on them, and there was nothing else in the room.

Song Jiuyuan’s expression remained calm. “When we were at war, we often slept on the ground. Having a blanket is better than having none.”

He had endured much hardship for the people of Dafeng, but now, the dog emperor treated him like this. Jiang Wan felt heartbroken for him!

“You’re injured. Rest first.”

Jiang Wan handed Ji Cao to Song Jiuli and asked him to apply medicine to Song Jiuyuan. The room was dark, with only the faint light of the moon. There was no shame in it.

Meanwhile, Shen Qian left the room, went to the innkeeper’s wife, and exchanged a few clean blankets. She was probably running low on money again.

Jiang Wan coldly watched Shen Qian digging her own grave. She thought, with Shen Qian’s extravagant behavior, she would probably starve to death later.

Fortunately, tonight’s meal wasn’t the usual black bread but coarse rice porridge. Although it was still dry and hard, it was better than bread.

After dinner, Ren Bang gathered everyone together. “Tomorrow morning, we will go to buy supplies. If anyone needs anything, go ask Old Zhang to register.”

Naturally, they would take a cut of the silver, but everyone would choose to exchange for what they needed in order to live a little better.

For example, the second and third rooms, who had been crying poverty, now took out some silver to ask the officials to bring back pots, bowls, and finer rice, among other things.

Some wanted water bags and clothes, while others wanted steamed buns, but only the family didn’t speak up.

Song Jiuyuan stayed in the room and didn’t come out, but Song Jiuli and Song Jiuli were without silver. Song Daniu looked at Jiang Wan, silent.

Jiang Wan didn’t register anything but quietly went to find Ren Bang. “Master, can I go to the town with you tomorrow?”

She quickly added, “Don’t worry, I won’t run away. It’s just that our family needs quite a few things.”

She knew this might be a bit overstepping, but only by leaving for a while could she stock up, and she might even be able to take a lot of things in a reasonable way.

“Just this once!”

Ren Bang, seeing it was for Little Deng’s sake, agreed but not without warning, “If you run away, your family will be done for.”

This was his way of repaying her for saving Little Deng.

“Okay!”

Jiang Wan happily returned to her room and quickly wiped the smile off her face. That night, she slept particularly well.

Because she would be going to the town, she got up early. By the time it was the first watch, she had already put on her outerwear.

Sleeping beside her, Song Daniu suddenly whispered, “Wanwan, I still have some silver here. Take it.”

She handed Jiang Wan a small silver note, worth fifty taels. Jiang Wan looked at it suspiciously.

Given Song Daniu’s personality, if she had silver on her, it probably wouldn’t have been kept for this long. If it was last night…

Only Song Jiuyuan was in the room. It seemed someone had sent him silver, but this guy was too proud to take it himself and insisted on having Song Daniu do it.

“I understand, thank you, Mother!”

Jiang Wan’s lips curled into a slight smile. With this silver, she could spend more freely, knowing that Song Daniu and Song Jiuyuan would cover for her later.

Jiang Wan turned to get out of bed. In the room, Song Jiuyuan opened his eyes and silently watched her leave.

It wasn’t until she disappeared from sight that Song Daniu shot a glare at Song Jiuyuan, “Why didn’t you give it to her yourself?”

Her voice was soft, but having trained in martial arts, Song Jiuyuan heard it clearly. However, he remained silent and did not answer.