At the moment, Jiang Yeqian was sitting on the shaft and looking over some documents that Zhao Xin had given him the night before. He swept a glance over the large crowd that had assembled, then tossed the reports into the carriage. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the group that was beating drums and banging cymbals from a distance.
“Qi Qingyao, come out and say something if you have the guts,” Madam Wu shouted confidently with her head held high.
No one answered.
Madam Wu continued straining her throat, “Qi Qingyao, don’t pretend to be dead.”
Jiang Yeqian said nothing.
He just looked at her silently.
Ma Sanye, on the other hand, could watch no further. There were more and more people watching in the village.
Ma Sanye said, “Madam Wu, Qi Boli, are you done making a ruckus?”
“Not yet!” Madam Wu took the initiative and said, “Ma Sanye, this is a matter of the Qi family. Please do not interfere.”
Ma Sanye was so annoyed that his nose was off-center. “Everyone in the village already knows she has nothing to do with the Qi family anymore. All the villages within 10 miles also know this now, what with all the ruckus you’re making. I don’t get what your family is trying to do.”
“What are we trying to do?” Madam Wu seemed determined to have her way. Her gaze cut into Ma Sanye as she said, “Ma Sanye, are you sure you want to intervene?”
Ma Sanye patted his chest and said, “As the village head, I’m in charge of all village affairs unless it is to be brought to the government office.”
“Alright, do as you wish.”
In a powerful and resonating voice, Madam Wu exclaimed.
“My daughter has made a fortune but now decides that she will not acknowledge her parents. If it were you, would you be able to take this lying down?
“I’ve raised her for eighteen years. I’ve also raised her three brats for three years! Are ten taels of silvers supposed to cut it?”
…
The string of plausible reasonings blasted out like cannons and gained the support of the people who had been following the procession for the excitement since Baishui Town. They were furious and began to sympathize with Madam Wu’s grievances.
“The girl has definitely gone overboard.”
“She’s already living in such a big house and yet she doesn’t even care about her biological parents. How unfilial.”
Madam Wu heard the murmurings surrounding her and felt even more confident. She even brought up a rough handkerchief on the spot to wipe her tears. “Boohoo, both of us old folk have never been unkind to her before but now that she’s rich, she abandoned her parents. Not only that, but she’d also decided to cut all contact with us. How is this reasonable?”
Hearing this, the onlookers all sympathized with the poor family.
“How outrageous.”
“She’s truly worse than a beast.”
“She’s already brought the family so much trouble by having children out of wedlock, even getting her parents cursed out by others, and yet she now decides to do nothing and abandon her parents. She’s lower than the low.”
…
Madam Wu continued, “Exactly! We didn’t cut our ties with her back then because we wanted to. We just wanted to train the child to be able to live on her own. Who would’ve thought that she would abandon her parents and never look back?”
Si Jin was helping the master with the woodwork when he heard the ruckus from outside. He could not help but take a look at what was going on and spotted the large group of people surrounding Jiang Yeqian on the cart. Si Jin was curious and began making his way through the crowd before going to his side. He asked, “What the heck is going on?”
Jiang Yeqian said calmly, “They want money.”
Si Jin, “???”
‘Can’t you spare a few extra words?’
Si Jin craned his head and looked toward the group of people. The ones leading were surprisingly a group of people from the old Qi family. He then saw Madam Wu’s crying performance as if she had been tormented by her child. At the moment, Si Jin’s fine brows raised and dissatisfaction filled the youth’s exquisite face. Looking at Madam Wu who was still wiping at her tears, he said loudly, “Sister isn’t here. You guys don’t need to shout.”