Chapter 20: Holding a Grudge

Everyone was puzzled. The Yan family’s usual spot was in the middle of the crowd, yet this person had died at the edge of the campsite, which was truly perplexing.

The deceased was Madam Liu, Yan Qinglin’s concubine, the fourth concubine of the fourth branch.

Yan Huan hadn’t seen her more than a few times in total and didn’t even remember what she looked like.

The officials quickly investigated the scene and determined that she had likely died from a wild beast attack. There were signs of a fierce struggle and many wounds that couldn’t have been inflicted by a human.

Madam Liu had a one-year-old daughter named Yan Qingling, who was currently being held by her fourth aunt, Madam Tan, standing to the side. The little one was still young and had no idea that the scattered pieces on the ground were her mother. She kept waving her little hands and giggling.

This scene brought tears to many eyes, and many people turned their heads away, unable to bear to look.

Recalling the dead wolf that Yan Huan and Jiang Duo’er had carried back earlier, discussions started to break out in the crowd.

“It must be those two girls who disturbed a wolf den, making the wolves hold a grudge and come for revenge.”

“That’s right. Everything was fine before, and this kind of thing only happened after they killed the wolf.”

“Exactly! There’s no reason why they get to eat meat while we have to live in fear, right?”

The first two speculations were still normal, and Yan Huan could understand them. But the last one was a bit outrageous, wasn’t it? It was clearly just simple greed for meat. Moreover, this voice sounded somewhat familiar. Looking up, sure enough, she saw Jinshi standing behind the crowd, her eyes darting around. That voice had come from there.

She hadn’t been jumping around in front of her for a few days, and Yan Huan had thought she had changed her ways. But as expected, a dog couldn’t stop eating shit.

Because the scene had to be protected, irrelevant people weren’t allowed to approach. Yan Huan went over to ask about the situation. Zhao Song’s brow was furrowed, clearly in a bad mood. “We can’t tell from the scene what kind of animal did this. You and Jiang girl shouldn’t run into the woods recently. It’s dangerous.”

Although deaths in the exile were normal, this kind of unnatural death still required an explanation to the higher-ups. Not being able to determine the cause of death was always a safety hazard, not only for the prisoners but also for themselves.

He didn’t say it was a wolf, but he told them not to go to the mountains again, which made their task very difficult to complete.

These were secondary concerns. The most important thing was that someone was now stirring up trouble and creating public opinion. Although Yan Huan didn’t care about others’ opinions, being pointed at and talked about all the time was still disgusting.

Zhao Song also saw her thoughts. He had heard what those people were saying. He immediately told everyone to disperse and even specifically clarified things for Yan Huan and Jiang Duo’er.

Although Zhao Song was usually quite friendly to Yan Huan and the others, those in their line of work all had blood on their hands. When a person stood there and placed their hand on the hilt of their sword, their aura came out.

“The officials haven’t even figured out what caused this, and you’re already jumping to conclusions? If anyone in my group gossips and makes trouble, causing all sorts of messy things, they’ll have to ask the sword in the official’s hand if it agrees.”

“Did you hear that? Everyone, hurry up and disperse!”

Hearing this, the crowd quieted down.

However, onlookers weren’t so easily dispersed. As soon as Zhao Song turned and walked away, Song Yan stepped out, wearing her innocent face, and said to Yan Huan with a sweet smile, “Sister Yan is really amazing. Even the officials listen to you.”

“If you ask me, even if it was the wolves that Sister brought, so what? Anyway, it’s someone from your Yan family who died. It has nothing to do with everyone else, don’t you think?”
“It’s just that little girl who’s a bit pitiful, still not knowing her mother is gone. I also heard someone say that yesterday Sister gave your second and third uncles meat, but you were the only one who didn’t give any to your fourth uncle. What does that mean?”

Anyone who heard this could tell that there was more to her words. Wasn’t she clearly implying that she had something going on with Zhao Song, so he helped her clarify things? Moreover, her words were also trying to stir up trouble between her and the fourth branch. Although no one responded, the way everyone looked at her showed that some people actually believed it. Even if they didn’t, there were still some who just wanted to see a good show, as watching a commotion was never a bad thing.

Previously, seeing that she was just a child, Yan Huan didn’t want to bother with her. But now it seemed that this child was not only ill-mannered but also vicious. She hadn’t given her meat yesterday, and the child already held a grudge. Being so vicious at such a young age, what would she be like when she grew up?

Seeing this girl speak so offensively, Yan’s older brothers were about to rush forward and reason with her, but Yan Huan knew that you couldn’t reason with this kind of person and had Madam Xu pull them away.

If a dog bites you, do you have to bite back? Isn’t it dirty? Moreover, her brothers were men, and arguing with a woman would put them at a disadvantage even before they opened their mouths.

Yan Huan walked forward, smiled at her, and said loudly, “Little Sister Song might be young and not know, but these words, the same few characters put together, can have several meanings. What you said was quite thoughtless. Officer Zhao and I are alone, a single man and a single woman, and you casually say he listens to me. Those who know you might say you’re simple-minded and don’t understand the meaning of these words, but those who don’t might think you’re young but already understand these dirty things, needlessly ruining your own reputation.”

“Also, Little Sister, are you saying these things perhaps because I didn’t give you meat yesterday when you asked, so you’re angry and holding a grudge against me? Little Sister, you’re wronging me. I was thinking that your family just asked Duo’er for a big pot of meat a few days ago, and you haven’t even returned the pot yet. Surely the meat hasn’t been finished, so that’s why I didn’t give you any. Please don’t blame me.”

The way to deal with a green tea b*tch is to walk the green tea path and leave her with no path to walk. Yan Huan didn’t have the good temper to indulge her and simply stated what happened last night directly.
Song Yan looked to be only eleven or twelve years old, fair-skinned and pretty, with a round face that looked very festive. This girl was also good at making friends, just like her mother, constantly going to other people’s homes. Usually, everyone liked her quite a bit.

So, when she said those words just now, everyone naturally believed her and developed a bad impression of Yan Huan.

But now, after hearing Yan Huan’s words, the way everyone looked at her changed.

They hadn’t thought about it that way before, but now, upon closer reflection, this girl from the Song family was quite cunning. Before, they thought she was well-behaved and sensible. If any family had something delicious and she happened to be there, everyone would offer her a few bites. But now that they thought about it, wasn’t it sometimes too coincidental? It seemed like no matter who had something delicious, she could always manage to be there?

Moreover, Sixth Miss Yan even said that she had taken the Jiang family’s pot. Not only did she not return the pot, but because Sixth Miss Yan didn’t give her meat, she said such things in public.

This kind of person was like a poisonous snake. If you gave her something delicious today, she would sweet-talk you, but if you didn’t satisfy her one day, she would turn around and bite you. Who would dare to associate with such a person?

Song Yan didn’t expect Yan Huan to bring up what happened last night. For a moment, tears welled up in her eyes.