Chapter 32: Fhapter 32: The Second Branch’s Improved Meal Quality
The departure was delayed since there were a lot of things happening at once. Commander Leng Hai immediately ordered other imperial guards to buy provision for the Ye family members and the servants.
Yan Luo’s face was completely dark, and his fists clenched by his side.
He had to endure this humiliation because Lin Su had tattled on him! His eyes flashed with malice as they landed on Lin Su. He also briefly glanced at the second branch of the Ye family.
A malicious plan formed in his head as the military cane struck him repeatedly. He groaned in pain. Commander Leng Hai’s attendant didn’t hold back at all when they were dealing with him.
Meanwhile, on the side of the Ye family’s second branch, they were simply having a feast.
Commander Leng Hai let them eat whatever they had caught on the way, so they began to roast the rabbits. The smell of meat wafted over, causing many people to swallow and looked over in their direction.
Just as Ye Lingyue guessed, it would attract unnecessary guests.
The first one was Pei Cuiyun. She immediately went to approach Shen Jingyi, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the rabbits being roasted over the fire.
"Second sister-in-law, where did you find the rabbits?" Pei Cuiyun asked in a straightforward tone.
She also wanted to try her luck and find one.
Shen Jingyi immediately pointed to the direction of the forest. "We found the rabbits there."
However, Pei Cuiyun thought that they found the rabbits nearby, so she hurriedly left them and went to find the rabbit burrow the second branch was talking about.
It wasn’t just Pei Cuiyun. Even the servants were interested. They began to search for rabbits nearby, trying their luck.
The second person who came was even more demanding than Pei Cuiyun.
It was Zheng Huizhen.
"Second sister-in-law," she called out unhappily.
Shen Jingyi turned to her with a neutral expression. It was unknown what she was thinking. "What brings you here, eldest sister-in-law?"
Zheng Huizhen directly pointed to the roasted rabbits. "You are cooking meat... why don’t you share it with us? Don’t you think of Mother at all?"
She shook her head as though she was greatly wronged. "Cheng’er is feeling unwell, and Ming’er..."
After waiting for a long time, Shen Jingyi hadn’t said anything. Seeing that the wife of the second branch remained unmoved after what she had told her, Zheng Huizhen was annoyed.
"Zhiqiu, can you give a little bit of the rabbit meat for Cheng’er recovery?" She turned her target to the eldest son.
Ye Zhiqiu had a conflicted expression on his face while he secretly nudged his gloating second brother.
"Eldest Aunt, it’s not that we don’t want to share, even two rabbits aren’t enough for our family of six," Ye Zhiqiu refused firmly.
The look on Zheng Huizhen’s face froze, and a tinge of surprise flashed in her eyes. There was a reason she targeted their eldest son.
He was rather soft-hearted toward his cousins, just like the way Ye Chengde sometimes gave way to other branches of the Ye family. Unexpectedly, he directly refused her this time.
Ye Zhiqiu silently pursed his lips. How can he not refuse? The rabbits were something that his mother and brother had hunted. They were practically also risking their lives for hunting in such a dangerous forest.
Although their meal quality would improve again just like it was before Yan Luo and his lackeys embezzled the money, he was still reluctant.
At this moment, Ye Chengde returned with several water pouches.
Zheng Huizhen’s eyes shifted around. She didn’t want to give up. As soon as Ye Chengde got near, she squeezed a few tears and acted pitiful.
"Not even one small rabbit leg?" She dabbed a handkerchief on her face. "Wuwuwu, Cheng’er, you are injured and Mother can’t even get decent food for your recovery... wuwu..."
Ye Chengde’s eyelids twitched when he saw the wife from the first branch made such an exaggerated farce.
He cleared his throat and tried to hide his annoyance. "Eldest sister-in-law, how is Jincheng’s condition?"
Zheng Huizhen shook her head. "Not great, not great at all. He has such a huge injury on his back..."
Despite her drama, what she said was probably true.
Seeing the unimpressed look on his wife’s face, Ye Chengde looked away. He coughed, "Then, I will wish him a quick recovery."
Zheng Huizhen tried to steer the conversation so that Ye Chengde could share the part of the rabbit meat to her. Alas, the man remained unmoved this time.
He always dodged once she brought up the topic. Gradually, she grew frustrated. She couldn’t maintain her pitiful persona anymore and left. Not before stomping the ground to show her anger.
Still, after she left, Shen Jingyi told Ye Lanxi to deliver the rabbit meat to Ye Jincheng quietly.
The eldest son from the first branch had a lukewarm relationship with them. Even so, they were still family, so they didn’t mind sharing a little bit with him.
They have heard that Ye Jincheng collapsed yesterday after walking with an empty stomach and wound on his back.
Ye Lanxi nodded at his mother’s words. He took the leaf package from her and quietly delivered it to Ye Jincheng and Song Yulan.
The pair of husband and wife seemed surprised when they saw him. They were currently seated not far from the other members of the first branch.
"For you," Ye Lanxi said curtly before he sneaked away again.
Song Yulan snapped out of her daze and she slowly opened it. Holding back her tears and sadness, she was feeling complicated when she saw what it was.
"Husband, eat this," she picked a piece of rabbit meat and delivered it to her husband’s mouth.
Ye Jincheng was about to refuse, but upon seeing his wife’s watery eyes, he finally opened his mouth and took a bite.
The other branches of the Ye family, the servants, and even the imperial guards found that the daughter of the Ye family’s second branch had astonishingly insane luck.
She would stumble upon a rock and accidentally pull down the bushes, revealing several bird eggs hiding there. In other times, she would run around with a silly grin on her face, looking incredibly foolish as she headed to the forest.
However, after the imperial guard caught her to bring her back, she already had a chicken caught in her hand. Her twin brother, Ye Lingrui, who had followed her out of worry also accidentally caught a chicken.
There were many of such coincidences that they gradually turned from the initial surprise into numbness.
Ye Lingyue was foolish, so some of them gradually harbored ideas to profit off her luck. Alas, they encountered misfortune instead.
Either they would suddenly stumble on a rock in the ground or fall down into some kind of animal’s dung. No one dared to take advantage of her anymore.
A week later, Pei Cuiyun discovered that her twins were eating really well. The second branch actually shared their food with them. In order to take advantage of her children’s luck, she took them back.
However, in the morning, they were suddenly awoken by Pei Cuiyun’s heartbreaking cries.
"Qin’er has disappeared! Commander Leng Hai, Captain Lin, please help me find him!" She sobbed to the imperial guards.
