The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 142: Courage and Color

Old Granny Zhang looked at Lady Jiang’s behavior that seemed beneath dignity, and it frustrated her. She had been hoping to give the third branch of the family a leg up to suppress the first branch, but she didn’t expect the third branch to be so disappointing, failing to seize the opportunity given to them.

She could only wave her hands dismissively, "Forget it, forget it, just roll back to your room, you’re like the mud that won’t stick to the wall!"

As she spoke, she planned to pick up the basket packed with thank-you gifts.

However, Wang Yongzhu beat her to it. Ever since she took that Power Pill, she could even kick stones around, let alone carry a basket, a piece of cake!

A smile spread across Old Granny Zhang’s lips. Her daughter was showing her filial piety, indeed. She didn’t realize that Wang Yongzhu had become incredibly strong; she just worried that her daughter, who had always been pampered, had never done such heavy work before: "Oh my dear, I know you want to show your filial duty, but you’ve never done such heavy work. Put it down, let me do it. Don’t sprain your back!"

As she said this, she attempted to take the basket from her.

Wang Yongzhu brushed off Old Granny Zhang’s hands and stepped forward, heading outside, "Mother, it’s fine, I can carry it. Let’s go."

The mother and daughter walked away warmly arm in arm.

It wasn’t until the figures of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were out of sight that Lady Jiang breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards Laosan’s House’s side room.

She had not taken two steps before Jinhua stopped her.

Jinhua’s face bore a trace of anger as she asked in a low voice, "Mother, knowing that Granny wants to favor our branch, why did you hide?"

She really couldn’t understand; it was rare for Granny to favor their third branch. No matter the reason, as long as they could make an appearance in front of Granny and get more food for the mother and her two younger brothers to eat their fill, why not do it?

Lady Jiang looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then carefully pulled Jinhua into the room and whispered, "Mother knows, Granny wants to favor our third branch to suppress your Eldest Uncle and Eldest Lady Lin. But after all, we have received favor from your Eldest Uncle before. How can we now suppress them? Isn’t that ungrateful? Besides, have you not considered, Jindou and Jinhu are grown up now. If I blindly follow Granny and oppose your Eldest Uncle’s wife, what will happen to your two brothers in the future? They still hope that Jindou and Jinhu will give them a hand—"

Tears came to Jinhua’s eyes as she angrily shook off Lady Jiang’s hand, "I don’t quite understand what you’re saying, Mother. How many years have Eldest Uncle and his family oppressed our third branch? Now that Granny is finally elevating us, as long as we don’t scheme against Eldest Uncle and his family with malicious intent, what’s wrong with that? Even if Granny wants to suppress them, with us in the middle, we can still soften the blow for Eldest Uncle and his family. Isn’t that also returning the favor for Eldest Uncle’s past kindness? Isn’t that better? Instead, you just flat out rejected the offer. Can that help Eldest Uncle and his family? It just makes Granny look down on our third branch all the more!"

"Mother always says it’s for Jinpan and Jinshao’s sake, but don’t you realize, their own brothers are Jinguan. If they get any benefits, will they think of their own brothers first or us? If they truly cared about us, why haven’t we seen Eldest Brother or Second Brother stand up for us over the years? Now, Granny has reduced our rations, and our third branch is already neglected. We had Lady Lin’s kind attention a few days ago and got to eat our fill. But now, to avoid offending Eldest Uncle and his wife, you’d rather offend Granny and Lady Lin? Isn’t it just because you think Lady Lin is kind-hearted these days? But have you considered that if we truly offend Lady Lin, with her strength, who in our third branch could withstand a kick from her? If it comes to that, do you think Eldest Uncle and his family will speak up for us?"

Lady Jiang became flustered, ah, she had been so cautious not to get too close to her sister-in-law earlier, fearing her martial prowess, and had forgotten that keeping her distance might cause her sister-in-law to misunderstand and think she was siding with the first branch. If it came to a fight, she and her children, even if tied together, wouldn’t be enough to withstand a kick from her sister-in-law.

She was stunned for a long while before saying, "Mother wasn’t scared by your aunt just now, I just didn’t think of that. What should we do, do you think it’s still okay if I go now and say I’m willing to join in?"

Jinhua, both anxious and angry, stamped her foot, "What’s the use of saying this now, Mother? Honestly, forget it, I’ll go and explain to Aunt and Granny—"

After saying that, she wiped away her tears and ran outside.

Lady Jiang stumbled behind her, wanting to call her back but afraid of making a scene and alarming others, which would be even worse. She had no choice but to return to her room, pick up her embroidery needle, but she was so unsettled that she couldn’t stitch a single thread.

Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang hadn’t gone far when they heard Jinhua’s voice behind them, "Grandma, Auntie, wait for me—"

Looking back, Jinhua was catching up while wiping her tears.

"What’s wrong with Jinhua?" Wang Yongzhu turned and asked Old Granny Zhang.

Old Granny Zhang rolled her eyes, "What could it be? She’s probably had a quarrel with Laosan’s House, that’s all!"

As for the third branch of the family, Old Granny Zhang had little hope. The folks at Laosan’s House were like kneaded clay, easily molded; their children were still young, and usually kept under Laosan’s thumb, so it was hard to tell their good from bad.

Before, she thought this moldable nature was good, but now, when they needed someone in the family who could stand up to Eldest Lady Lin, this clay-like temperament was no good at all.

Jinhua ran up to the two, wiped her tears, and said, "Grandma, I want to come with you."

Old Granny Zhang was surprisingly taken aback by Jinhua. The girl’s mother was too timid to go, yet her daughter was quite the brave one.

Wang Yongzhu was also surprised, but there was no need to drag a child into adult affairs, especially given that with the fighting prowess of Old Granny Zhang and Lady Lin, having Jinhua, a little maid, join the fray would be like sending her off to be cannon fodder.

In her family, aside from Jinguan having some not too favorable habits, the rest were all quite decent, especially Jinhua, the maid. In Wang Yongzhu’s eyes, she was even stronger than Jindou and the others.

Seeing Jinhua’s eyes red with tears yet with a stubborn look, Wang Yongzhu felt she ought to give her an excuse: "Jinhua, we are going for a serious matter, not for fun. Your mother seemed to be feeling unwell just now, don’t you want to go back and accompany her?"

She hoped the maid would understand her good intentions, quickly turn around and head home. Why should she get involved in adult affairs?

Jinhua stubbornly shook her head, "I won’t go back. I want to follow Grandma and Auntie! I know Grandma asked my mother to accompany you as a way to give respect to our Laosan’s House. My mother is timid, she’s afraid she won’t do well and might mess things up! That’s why she sent me. I’m not afraid. Whatever Grandma commands, I am willing to do. Even if I don’t know how, Grandma can teach me, and I’ll learn!"

Oh—interesting. Has Laosan’s House raised a quail yet hatched a sparrow? Old Granny Zhang actually laughed.

Moreover, does this mean that Lady Jiang was actually willing but just afraid she wouldn’t do well?

Indeed, with her timid nature, it would be expected that she couldn’t pull it off. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Yet it seemed Jinhua, the maid, had such courage, which hadn’t been apparent before.

After all, if it were indeed Lady Jiang who had sent her, she certainly would’ve given some instructions. Lady Jiang might be soft, but she wasn’t foolish; she could certainly perceive her own intentions, and to push her daughter forward was rather interesting.

Lady Jiang was grateful; she knew of the aid Eldest Brother had given to Laosan’s House, she was aware of that.

Anyway, no matter how it went, the little bit of stuff had been consumed by her own child from the Old Wang Family; who consumed it wasn’t her concern.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺