Feng Xianxian spoke up. “Yutong treats you so much better than your sister-in-law does. The difference is like heaven and earth.”
Someone else in the group piled on. “If she hadn’t quarreled with you, you wouldn’t have run off.”
“Rou’er, you’re just too softhearted. She’s deliberately making things difficult for you. She gives you a nasty look every single day.”
Zhan Qingrou lowered her head sadly.
After all, her sister-in-law was family too, and she truly hoped they could get along. But her sister-in-law was so domineering and snobbish in everything she did. Qingrou really couldn’t stand her…
Feng Xianxian once again put on a concerned expression. “By the way, Rou’er, now that you’re back, where’s your sister-in-law?”
Zhan Qingrou shook her head. “I don’t know. She told me to come back first.”
“You’re injured this badly, and she was willing to let you come back alone?” Feng Xianxian shook her head. “Your sister-in-law really doesn’t care about you.”
Zhan Yurong curled her lips. “Of course she doesn’t care. That’s why she didn’t bother.”
Zhan Qingrou grew even more dejected.
“It’s already so late, and Cheng Yao still hasn’t come back. What is she trying to do? Don’t tell me she plans to spend the night outside?”
Zhan Qingrou’s voice was low. “Maybe she went to look for my mother and Ninth Brother.”
Zhan Yurong sighed. “Honestly, she really can’t tell right from wrong. Your mother and Haotian will come back on their own once they find you. What help can she possibly offer? Instead, she’s making everyone search for her. Besides, Xiao Fu and Hongxiu went out to look for them too, didn’t they?”
Someone in the group whispered, “Could she have run away?”
The moment those words were spoken, the bailiffs tensed. They rose with their hands on their swords and looked toward the constable captain.
“Captain.”
The captain’s expression turned grave.
A fugitive without household registration would be wanted by the authorities and forced to spend the rest of their life hiding, never knowing peace.
Still, some people would rather disappear into the deep mountains and live cut off from the world than endure imprisonment or exile.
Lady Cheng was clearly capable. It was difficult to say whether she might actually have such a plan.
“No, she wouldn’t. My sister-in-law would never abandon us.”
Zhan Qingrou waved her hands repeatedly, though panic had begun to creep into her heart.
What if her sister-in-law had really run away? What would happen to her elder brother? What would happen to all of them?
Only now did Qingrou truly realize how important her sister-in-law was. She had become the backbone of their entire branch.
“Hard to say, Rou’er. You’d better prepare yourself for the worst.”
Someone in the group sounded delighted by her misfortune.
Zhan Qingrou grew increasingly frantic. She turned to Second Master Zhan and Third Master Zhan for help. “Second Uncle, Third Uncle, my mother and brother haven’t come back, and my sister-in-law is missing too. Could you help us look for them?”
Second Master Zhan turned around without saying a word.
Third Master Zhan looked troubled. “Rou’er, it’s not that we refuse to help you. It’s just that we traveled all day, and the soles of our feet are practically worn raw. On top of that, it’s the middle of the night, and this is a desolate wilderness crawling with wild beasts. We wouldn’t even have a chance to escape if something happened.”
“But we’re family! If you won’t help us, then who will?”
Zhan Qingrou sobbed uncontrollably.
She had shed more tears that night than she had in all the years of her life combined.
“Second Brother, Third Brother, let’s go. We’ll all go together.” The old master of the fifth branch rose with a cough. “Zhan Haoting and his son protected the entire clan for more than twenty years. Now that their branch has fallen into hardship, we must do everything we can to help them.”
“Enough, Fifth Uncle!”
Second Master Zhan could no longer hold himself back. His face flushed crimson, and his eyes bulged with fury.
“Ten years ago, our elder brother was blinded by the desire for glory and fell into an ambush by the enemy. He and thirty thousand soldiers were buried on the frontier. Who knows how many people throughout the country despise him?
“All these years, hasn’t our Zhan family suffered enough because of him? And now look at us! Because of Zhan Haoting, the entire clan has been sentenced to exile. Some of us may not even survive the journey! He and his son have ruined us, and you still expect us to be grateful to their branch?”
“That’s right. If it weren’t for that father and son, our family could at least have maintained its position and had a bright future ahead of us. Instead, we’re now barely clinging to life like drowning dogs.”
Second Master Zhan and Third Master Zhan vented all the resentment they had suppressed for years, hurling insult after insult without end.
Zhan Yunhe was both furious and anxious. “Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Elder Cousin Haoting did lose that battle back then, and our family was indeed dragged down with him. Some were demoted, while others lost their posts. But later, through Big Brother Haoting’s efforts, didn’t our family rise again? Over the years, the Zhan family has become even more glorious than before. Can’t you see that?”
Second Master Zhan let out a cold laugh. “Rise again? So what? Aren’t we still being exiled now? Zhan Haoting thought he was so capable, but what happened in the end? He dragged the entire clan into an abyss!”
“Exactly! What good is it to bring that up now? If it weren’t for him, why would we be suffering like this?” Third Master Zhan shouted along with him.
Zhan Yunhe grew even angrier and shouted back, “You people are utterly unreasonable! Big Brother has sacrificed so much for the Zhan family, and you refuse to see any of it! Everything he did for our family is more than enough to make up for the harm our elder grandfather caused back then. If it weren’t for him, the Zhan family would have collapsed long ago!”
But the others refused to back down.
“Hmph. It’s too late to say all that now. Zhan Haoting has caused the entire clan to be exiled. There’s a good chance we’ll all die on the road. He should have remained an ordinary, unremarkable man from the beginning. Then at least we would all still be alive.”
So this was what everyone really thought!
Zhan Yunhe was deeply disappointed. “The Zhan family has come this far largely because of Big Brother. He was framed and targeted, and now you’re denying everything he contributed and placing all the blame on him. Do you people even have a conscience?”
Just as the argument grew more heated, Shao Yutong suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, “Everyone, please stop arguing. If this continues, Auntie and Ninth Cousin will be in danger. Whatever happened in the past, please set our differences aside for now and go look for them together.”
With her delicate, innocent face and her tearful plea, she moved the hearts of everyone present.
At that moment, however, someone murmured, “Cheng Yao is back.”
Everyone turned to look.
Cheng Yao slowly walked in.
Feng Xianxian curled her lips. “Sister-in-law, you’ve finally come back. We thought you had run away.”
Shao Yutong said, “Third Cousin-in-law, don’t say that. Perhaps Big Cousin-in-law went out to look for Auntie and Ninth Cousin.”
“Is that so?” Feng Xianxian’s gaze traveled up and down Cheng Yao. “Then, Sister-in-law, did you find them? Your clothes are perfectly neat, and not even a strand of your hair is out of place. You don’t look like you’ve been searching for someone. You look more like you went to meet someone.”
She hadn’t actually wanted to make it sound so harsh, but she simply couldn’t hold back.
After all, Zhan Jinmo had actually ordered her to go out and look for Cheng Yao!
If he had even the slightest place for her in his heart, he would never have sent her out into the wilderness at night to look for another woman!
It was all Cheng Yao’s fault for having such a seductive face and bewitching people’s hearts.
The more Feng Xianxian thought about it, the more she hated her. She clenched her fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Sister-in-law? Did I hit the nail on the head?”
Cheng Yao curved her lips and looked at her with amusement, as though she were watching a clown put on a show. Then she slowly stepped aside.
Zhan Haochen appeared behind her, carrying Madam Zhan on his back.
He fixed Feng Xianxian with a hostile stare. “Third Sister-in-law, when my mother and I failed to return for so long, you not only refused to help look for us, you also slandered my sister-in-law. What exactly are you trying to do?”
