Chapter 25: Jiang Wan Is the Person She Hates Most in This Life

“Wanwan is right. Sister-in-law, you really should care more about your daughter-in-law,” said Madam Song, glancing meaningfully at Second Madam Song. She and Jiang Wan cooperated seamlessly, taking turns to speak and thoroughly upsetting the second branch of the family.

Because Shen Qian no longer had a virginity mark, Song Chen even glanced at her suspiciously, clearly doubting her fidelity.

Shen Qian hadn’t expected Jiang Wan to retaliate so viciously. She gritted her teeth and retorted, “I’m not pregnant! I’m not!”

In her fury, she blurted out, “Jiang Wan, I’m not like you. Back then, who didn’t know you had a thing with Wang… Big Brother before marriage? The rumors in the capital were vivid and detailed. I barely saw my husband before we got married!”

“What are you panicking for?”

Jiang Wan let out a laugh. “I never said the child in your belly was Second Brother’s, did I?”

“Jiang Wan, you’ve gone too far!”

Shen Qian suddenly stood up, her fists clenched tightly. But she didn’t dare hit Jiang Wan, knowing full well that if she struck first, the officers would have a reason to punish her. Why did Jiang Wan get to be so arrogant? Shen Qian was nearly in tears again out of sheer frustration.

She could feel Song Chen’s gaze shift, growing more uncertain. Clearly, Jiang Wan’s words had hit a nerve.

Yet Jiang Wan only shrugged innocently. “I was just speaking casually. You should know better than anyone what’s really going on.”

She returned Shen Qian’s words back at her. Shen Qian was so angry her head spun. She swore, Jiang Wan was the person she hated most in this life.

After getting her revenge, Jiang Wan didn’t continue to press Shen Qian further. Her stomach was starting to rumble. She’d play with her again when she had time.

Jiang Wan searched through her space, which held quite a bit of stuff. Since she had just recovered from heatstroke, she didn’t want to eat anything too greasy for fear of a relapse.

Eventually, she dug out a few wrapped green rice balls. Who knows where she had scavenged them from? Using the package as cover, she discreetly took them out.

“Mother, have something to eat.”

Last time they went shopping, no one had checked her package, so no one knew what she had bought. This made it convenient for Jiang Wan to sneak food out now and then.

“You should eat too.”

Madam Song took a bite with a smile. The taste was quite good—so much so that it reminded her of the dishes made by the chefs at their princely estate.

Unaware of how close she had come to being exposed, Jiang Wan handed one rice ball to each of the others, including Song Jiuli this time.

She figured it was a reward for Jiuli’s recent bootlicking behavior.

Song Jiuli was stunned by the gesture and blankly accepted the rice ball. “Sister-in-law… Is this really for me?”

These past two days, she had watched them eat with envy and drooled countless times. Was it finally her turn?

Tears welled up in Song Jiuli’s eyes. She took back what she had said before—sister-in-law was actually pretty nice.

“As long as you stop being stupid and don’t let people manipulate you, I won’t treat you badly.”

Jiang Wan said this while casting a pointed glance at Shen Qian in the distance, making Shen Qian so angry she turned away.

Song Jiuli understood the message. It was a warning to stay away from Shen Qian. All for a bite of food, she nodded rapidly.

“Don’t worry, Sister-in-law! I’ll listen to you from now on.”

Her mother was right—following Sister-in-law meant there’d be food to eat.

Jiang Wan had been teasing Song Jiuli and didn’t notice Song Jiuyuan quietly glancing at her with surprise after taking a bite of the rice ball.

Seeing everyone eating so happily, the Old Madam on the side kept swallowing her saliva. Second Madam Song was displeased.

“Big Sister-in-law, you’re being unfilial! How can you sit here eating and drinking in front of your mother?”

She struck a righteous pose, as if she were speaking up on behalf of the Old Madam.

The Old Madam chimed in with a sigh, “Sigh, now that my son is gone, even my daughter-in-law looks down on me.”

Everyone: …
Did she really think everyone had a short memory? Who was it that cut ties with the family before, huh?

Jiang Wan remained silent. She wanted to see what Madam Song would do. If they were still going to soften their stance, she had no plans to keep humoring them.

Fortunately, Madam Song didn’t let her down. She popped the remaining rice ball into her mouth and said, “We’ve already split the family before. You were the one who said you didn’t want us to manage your affairs. I was just following your wishes.”

“Grandmother,” Song Jiuli began. She was the easiest to soften, but now that she was finally eating something from her sister-in-law, she didn’t dare go against Jiang Wan.

“If you’re hungry, you can ask your other two daughters-in-law to get you something. They’re so filial—they definitely won’t let you go hungry.”

Naively sweet, Song Jiuli offered her genuine suggestion, completely unaware that she had enraged the Second and Third Madams, making their faces pale with fury.

Jiang Wan almost couldn’t hold in her laughter. Turns out Song Jiuli had a cute side too.

“You idiot! If we had food, would we ask you?” snapped Second Madam Song, who had always looked down on Song Jiuli. She had only tried to cozy up to her because of Song Jiuyuan’s status. Now she had no mercy in her words.

Song Jiuli stared blankly at her, eyes filling with tears. “Second Aunt… You used to say I was the cleverest girl.”

“I lied to you!”

Second Madam Song curled her lip. If not for her lucky brother, no one would even bother with her.

Tears finally fell from Song Jiuli’s eyes. She sobbed as she looked at her mother.

“Mother, am I really that stupid?”

Madam Song: …
She didn’t want to hurt her daughter’s feelings.

“Enough,” Song Jiuyuan suddenly interrupted. His expression was cold as he swept his gaze across the Old Madam and the others.

“You were the ones who took the initiative to sever ties. Please follow the agreement and stay away from us.”

His eyes were filled with disgust for these leeches—he didn’t even want to look at them.

Even though Song Jiuyuan had fallen from grace, the second and third branches of the family still held a deep, ingrained fear of him and stayed silent.

As they continued on their journey, everyone’s spirits were a little better. Jiang Wan noticed that Song Jiuyuan’s wounds seemed to have improved somewhat.

He no longer looked deathly ill like before. But injuries involving muscles and bones took a hundred days to heal—he still had a long way to go.

Thankfully, Song Jiuyuan seemed to have come to terms with things over the past few days. He was no longer cold and frightening like at the beginning of their exile. There was even a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

That evening, Jiang Wan made a pot of agastache soup for the officers again. After being tormented all afternoon, Shen Qian didn’t dare provoke her this time.

Everyone obediently let Jiang Wan boss them around without complaint. They had come to realize that what she made actually worked.

The people suffering from heatstroke were visibly recovering. Even the Chen family’s young boy had started to cool down. Madam Chen came over, carrying him, to thank Jiang Wan.

“Wenhao, this lady helped you. Hurry and thank her.”

Madam Chen was a particularly gentle person. She no longer looked as worried and sad as she had earlier.

Chen Wenhao’s shiny black eyes landed on Jiang Wan, and he gave her a big smile.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

The little boy looked adorably silly, still unaware of how dangerous the situation was. Even in the worst conditions, he smiled brightly, dimples and all.

Jiang Wan’s heart softened. She quietly pulled out a piece of candy from her sleeve (from her space) and slipped it into his little hand.

“No need to thank me. Just be good and drink your soup.”

“Miss, you really shouldn’t…”

Madam Chen quickly tried to refuse. They used to be wealthy merchants—they weren’t lacking in food.

But now that they had been exiled, even a single candy was precious.