CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: INCLUDING TODAY, THAT’S 2 ACCOUNTS IN TOTAL

Qi Lin pretended to be reserved and stepped back, speaking in a timid voice, "You... don’t be like this, I am scared..."

The government officer chuckled, not daring to be reckless anymore, though his eyes, as if belonging to a thief, kept darting toward her.

Give up your purity for a bite of food?

Ruan Mian coldly snorted, suddenly recalling from the original book that this cousin of the original protagonist, despite being married, mingled with a servant from the mansion, cuckolding her husband.

Indeed, a leopard never changes its spots!

Seeing the bowl of fish soup half drunk by Qi Lin, Ruan Mian suddenly spoke up, "Does the fish soup taste good?"

Qi Lin never expected her to be behind her, hadn’t she just been seen?

A surge of shame rushed forth, making Qi Lin furious.

The government officer, surprisingly cowardly, disappeared after a few words, leaving only Qi Lin face-to-face with Ruan Mian.

Thinking of the suffering caused by Ruan Mian, Qi Lin kicked over the fish soup, full of disdain.

"Such terrible soup could only come from you."

Ruan Mian’s expression slightly changed, too lazy to bother with her. The previous account hasn’t been settled yet, adding today, makes two.

She walked up to Qi Lin without hesitation and pushed her forcefully down to the ground!

Grabbing her high-piled hair bun, she pressed her head into the water!

"Help... help..."

She swallowed several mouthfuls of water!

But Ruan Mian showed no mercy.

"It’s fish soup exchanged for your girlish purity, yet you’re not grateful and dare to insult my effort in front of me?

No one taught you manners before, so as your former sister-in-law, I’ll kindly teach you what manners are!"

Disturbed movements here caught Liu family’s attention, she opened her eyes wide, bellowing angrily.

"What are you doing, Ruan Mian?! You’re audacious! Do you intend to commit murder in broad daylight?! Let go of my daughter!"

This brought attention from the surrounding onlookers, who saw Qi Lin being pulled up by Ruan Mian, looking disheveled, hair dripping, sobbing uncontrollably.

Ruan Mian’s gaze turned cold, pushing her toward Liu in front.

Words laden with ice, "Instead of questioning me, perhaps you should ask your daughter. She eats my fish soup and throws it away, doesn’t she know how precious food is?"

"We are all exiled civilians, no guarantee for the next meal, should I revere someone who doesn’t appreciate food as a deity?"

Liu scoffed, "It’s just a bowl of fish soup! Do you have to be like this? If my daughter gets hurt, I’ll..."

Before Liu finished, an old granny from Uncle’s Mansion couldn’t stand it, "Mrs. Qi, your daughter throws away what’s given to her, wasting food deserves divine punishment! I think Miss Ruan’s lesson was well-taught! We can’t even eat it, yet you throw it away?"

"You group of blabber mouths, if not seduced by her with bedding, why would you stand by her to scold me? A bunch of fence-riders! What right do you have..."

"What right do you have to criticize us? Qi Mansion is down, yet you put on airs like you’re a lady! Watch my move!"

The two grannies started with words, then escalated to a physical altercation.

The scene was chaotic, annoying to watch, the government officer was even more unwilling to deal with it.

All a group of ignorant gossips, as if they were staging daily performances.

Ruan Mian clapped her hands and left casually, while Qi Lin, muddied all over, was trembling with rage.

After some time, Liu finally gained the upper hand, chasing away the old woman from Uncle’s Mansion. Meanwhile, her daughter sulked without uttering a word, not even solving the problem of eating.

Liu’s temper flared up immediately, unable to help but tug at her earlobe, "What are you up to! Get it together, can you? Can’t outfight her, yet insist on provoking her, what use are you?"

Qi Lin gritted her teeth, making every effort to resist, not only pushing Liu to the ground but also trampling all the wild vegetables they managed to find into a pulp.

"You... you... you miserable soul, how did I give birth to such a disgraceful daughter?"

The more Liu cursed, the angrier Qi Lin became, even going so far as to dump the cooked porridge into the river.

Leaving Qi family’s entire household to drink northwest wind.

The farce ended only when Qi Nanfeng came forward and shouted sternly at Qi Lin.

Others watched the spectacle, but Ruan Mian didn’t even bother to glance over. She ate and drank, then used her break time to sew her family a layer of thick insoles.

All made from cut animal skins.

A looming mountain lay ahead, they had to cross the mountain to reach the foot and arrive at Qingchang City.

The mountain path was different from the official road, the deeper into the woods, the colder it got, and considering the current weather, it might snow heavily at night.

If not adequately prepared, accidents could easily occur.

She even directed house servant Ashun and others, "Ashun, gather a few people and pick up some logs from the nearby woods. Later when we enter the mountain, we’ll have to rely on using branches to pave the way."

Ashun didn’t expect her to think so thoroughly, quickly led a few men, took knives, and cut some branches in the woods.

Before departing, Ruan Mian saw Ruan Qingsong staring at a sachet in a daze.

She then remembered, this sachet was sewn by his sister-in-law herself, back then when he died suddenly in the prison, he was still tightly clutching this sachet.

So she stepped forward to break Ruan Qingsong’s thoughts, reassuring him, "Brother, sister-in-law and Rui won’t be in trouble, once we cross Qingchang, we can reach Jixian County, then I’ll go find them!"

Ruan Qingsong quickly collected his slightly reddened gaze, wiped his eyes, and said, "Mianmian, you’ve worked hard. All of this is my fault, implicating the whole family. Had it not been for you taking care of things, we might..."

As he spoke, he was choking with emotion.

Ruan Mian quickly patted his shoulder, "What’s past is past, why bring it up now. Everyone’s fine! Let’s hit the road first, keep an eye on our parents, they’re old, and may not withstand such hardships."

It was easy to enter the mountain, but as the path grew steeper, the weather got colder. After walking less than three hours, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and it started to snow heavily.

The whole sky was gray and darkening.

The government officer saw this and led them to a nearby Earth God Temple.

"We’ll stay here overnight, tomorrow morning after the snow has passed, we’ll quicken our pace down the mountain!" Everyone eagerly wanted to rest, so they held their breath, rushing into the Earth God Temple.

The temple wasn’t big but was enough to shelter them from the wind and snow.

But no one expected, this supposedly safe road had a bandit den nearby.

Once darkness fell and people drifted off to sleep, the entire temple was surrounded by several people outside!

Ruan Mian was startled awake by the horses’ neighs!

Others around her gradually opened their eyes one after another.

They saw a group of bandits, viciously holding torches, surrounding them within the temple.