Chapter 11: Making Trouble

The Xu family had spent so much effort bribing the officials, slipping her the silver notes discreetly. But her fourth uncle was something else. He didn’t properly hide the silver notes he had secretly brought along. Instead, he had to take them in front of the officials to exchange for food. If the officials didn’t confiscate such an obvious offering, wouldn’t they be letting him off too easily for his brilliant move? One had to wonder how his brain was wired.

When Jin Shi saw Yan Huan laugh, she assumed she was being mocked, and her expression worsened. However, Yan Huan was the eldest daughter of the first wife, not someone a concubine like her could casually criticize. She could only use her son, Yan Qingkun, as a shield.

Yan Qingkun loved to eat. He finished the fish in a few bites and was now drinking the soup. When Jin Shi suddenly pulled him up, his hand shook, and the soup in the bowl spilled onto his body. Food was his life! Looking at the empty bowl in his hand, his lips trembled, and tears fell with a patta patta sound.

His mother didn’t care whether he was upset or not. She snatched the soup bowl from his hand and threw it aside, scolding, “Cry, cry, all you know is how to cry! Are a few mouthfuls of that sour soup even worth crying over?”

After yelling at her son, she turned to Yan Huan and snapped, “Sixth Miss, I have no objection to you sharing the fish with the younger ones, but why did that little brat Xiyao get the same amount as Qingkun?”

“How many mouthfuls can a little girl like her eat? My Qingkun is still growing! That little bit isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth! When the noodle soup is ready, you must prioritize our Qingkun and not give any more to her.”

Yan Huan was so angered by these words that she laughed. “Little brat this, little brat that,” as if she wasn’t a girl herself.

Ignoring her retort, she said to her fourth uncle, Yan Qinglin, who was standing nearby, “Fourth Uncle’s family truly has fine family rules. A concubine can even act wildly in front of Grandmother?”

Yan Huan didn’t know why the old lady was silent at this moment. She simply walked forward, picked up the bowl from the ground. The once fine bowl now had a chipped edge.

A cold glint flashed in Yan Huan’s eyes. She said with a cold face to her fourth uncle, “Xiyao is the eldest granddaughter of our first branch. Who is a mere concubine to be yelling at her like that?”

“Since you find the food poor, then your family doesn’t have to eat it.”

She instructed Mama Jiang to take out a few vegetable cakes according to the fourth branch’s headcount and placed them in front of her fourth uncle, saying coldly, “The fish and wild vegetables were originally found by me. If Fourth Uncle finds them unappetizing, then your whole family can do without them.”

“Anyway, the officials have also distributed rations. From now on, let’s eat separately.”

Yan Qinglin hadn’t expected that his refined and elegant niece, whom he hadn’t seen for only half a year, would become so aggressive. He hadn’t even said anything yet, and she had already rattled off a whole bunch of words.

His lips trembled several times before he said with a flushed face, “I didn’t say it wasn’t delicious.”

After speaking, he looked at Yan Qingkun, who was wailing loudly, and continued, “Qingkun also likes to eat it very much.”

Yan Huan ignored him. Her fourth uncle hadn’t explicitly said it wasn’t delicious, but Jin Shi was his concubine, and she dared to act like this in front of the whole family. He also had a responsibility.

She picked up a few more bowls and chopsticks, including the chipped bowl, and placed them directly in front of him. Then, she turned to drink her soup, clearly not wanting to pay him any more attention.

Yan Qinglin looked at Yan Huan, then at the old lady, and said, “Mother, you know that Jin Shi is just quick-tongued, but her heart is good. She didn’t mean anything by it.”

Seeing that her son had called her out, the old lady slowly swallowed the soup in her mouth, gently dabbed the corners of her lips with a delicate silk handkerchief, and then slowly raised her head. “I’m old and can’t manage these things anymore. However, Huan’er also makes sense. Our big family has many people and many mouths, and it’s difficult to cater to everyone’s tastes. Let’s eat separately from now on.”

The old lady usually liked to smooth things over. Otherwise, how would a concubine like Jin Shi dare to speak to her like that? Yan Qinglin had originally wanted his mother to say a few words in his favor, but he hadn’t expected her to settle things with just a few words, suggesting that everyone eat separately from now on.

Not only did Yan Qinglin panic, but the second and third branches also panicked. However, the old lady seemed to have made up her mind and wouldn’t listen to anyone. In the end, this meal became the last time the whole family ate together.

Anyone with eyes in the second and third branches could see that Yan Huan had absolute say in the first branch. Moreover, she was the one who had found the fish. If she could find it once, she could find it again. After Jin Shi’s outburst, they wouldn’t even get a sip of soup in the future.

Thinking of this, the people in the other two branches couldn’t wait to rush up and tear Jin Shi’s mouth apart.

Yan Huan was happy to be left in peace. The various branches didn’t interact much anyway. Although she felt that in the current situation, more people meant more strength, being with a bunch of busybodies every day would also be quite annoying. It was better to observe for a while. Anyway, the old lady hadn’t said they were splitting the family, just that they wouldn’t eat together. Whether the whole family would eventually stay together or separate was still uncertain.

Seeing how things had developed, Jin Shi dared not cause any more trouble. She could only sit in a corner and shed tears. However, Yan Qinglin didn’t comfort her this time either and sat there sighing alone.

Yan Huan found her fourth aunt to be quite a character. Despite such a big commotion, she hadn’t shown a single expression from beginning to end, as if everything was irrelevant to her.

After eating and drinking their fill, Yan Huan said to Yan Qingyi, “Father, earlier when Duo’er and I went into the woods, we found quite a few wild animals. We don’t know what the situation will be on the road ahead. I want to go into the mountains again with Duo’er later. If we can gather more food, we can preserve it and keep it in reserve.”

The brothers Yan Jinzhao and the others quickly said, “It’s almost dark. We’ll go too. It’s not safe for you two girls to go out alone.”

Yan Huan smiled and said, “Why don’t you say that to Duo’er?”

If Jiang Duo’er heard that, she would definitely want to spar with them. All of her brothers combined probably couldn’t even beat Duo’er with one hand.

However, seeing that her brothers looked unhappy, she considered their pride and said with a smile, “It would definitely be better with the help of my brothers. But if the two of us girls go out, the officials might turn a blind eye. If such a large group of us go out, are you sure the soldiers won’t arrest us for trying to escape?”

Yan Qingyi felt that this made sense and nodded in agreement.

With Jiang Duo’er around, he wasn’t particularly worried about Yan Huan’s safety. He only told her not to go too deep into the woods.

Soon, Jiang Duo’er, full of food and drink, walked over with an arrogant gait.
Because she found the skirt hem cumbersome, she had tucked part of it into her belt. Where was there any hint of a girl’s appearance? The Yan family brothers shook their heads. Their younger sister was with such a strange person every day. Just thinking about it gave them a headache.