Chapter 46: Shifting the Conflict

Lin Siyan was swallowing nervously, persistently forcing herself to stay awake until now, yet she never expected to be discovered after all.

The members of the Li family were also woken up, one by one starting to grumble.

"In the middle of the night, not sleeping, what are you making a fuss about?" Li Sheng roared impatiently.

Li Yuan was extremely reluctant as well. Although his stomach wasn't empty, it lacked any sustenance, and it was twisting and aching. Just as he finally managed to fall asleep, he was woken up again. He looked toward the Gu family with displeasure, only to find Lin Siyan standing over on that side.

"What is going on?"

Song Qiang let out a cold snort, her voice carrying the hoarseness of just waking up. "What else could be going on? Mister Li, if you can't afford to support your wife and child, then don't go taking so many of them. Now she's actually come over to our house to steal things. Unbelievable, craving food beyond all shame."

Song Qiang would seize any opportunity to take a jab at Li Yuan, purely to vent her frustration on behalf of Gu Yuru.

Although she had been somewhat dissatisfied with Gu Yuru in the past, she still knew where her loyalties lay. Besides, the reason they had journeyed in such comfort along the way was largely thanks to Gu Yuru's youngest daughter.

Li Yuan's face turned dark and then red. He never expected that Lin Siyan would actually do such a thing. "What are you doing over there? Get over here right now."

"Is that it?" Song Qiang curled her lips. "Good thing Mumu woke up, otherwise I'm afraid even the meat would be gone."

"I... I didn't eat a single bite," Lin Siyan said.

"That's because you didn't succeed. If you had succeeded, would you have eaten it? What, just because the theft didn't work out, it doesn't count as stealing?" Song Qiang challenged.

Li Muwu gave her Second Aunt a thumbs-up—the designated champion of family quarrels. However, Lin Siyan's actions weren't as simple as just stealing a bite to eat.

Sure enough, she walked over and took a look. There was still unevenly smeared medicinal powder on the meat. By the smell, it was clearly the exact same kind from daytime.

This person truly felt uncomfortable if she wasn't stirring up trouble.

Song Qiang smiled triumphantly. Reasoning with people was difficult, but being unreasonable was easy enough—though this could hardly be considered anything more than standing firmly on her rights.

"I..." Lin Siyan bit her lip, looking at Li Yuan with a gaze full of lingering affection. However, Li Yuan avoided her with a look of disgust.

"What are you all arguing about? If you delay the journey again tomorrow, you'll see what's coming to you."

In the end, a yamen runner who had been awakened shouted out a warning, and the Gu family finally quieted down. Naturally, the Li family did not dare to say another word.

Lin Siyan let out a sigh of relief. However, Li Yuan, who was lying beside her, spoke with an expression of utter disgust, "Siyan, how could you do such a thing?"

Thinking that the Gu family was about to meet with misfortune tomorrow, Lin Siyan felt quite pleased inside. "Brother Yuan, the Gu family went too far. I... I really didn't do it for a bite to eat. They mocked you today, so I... I was avenging you. I was scared to death just now, but even if I get beaten, scolded, and misunderstood, I still had to protect your reputation."

"You?" Li Yuan understood what she meant, but he could have warned the Gu family; instead, he chose to remain silent.

Today, he had soiled his trousers, and it was utterly humiliating.

The thought that the Gu family would suffer the exact same humiliation tomorrow brought a deep sense of comfort to his heart, and Lin Siyan's words softened him somewhat.

"What on earth was that medicine about today?" Li Yuan asked again.

Lin Siyan shook her head and raised three fingers. "I swear to heaven, it really wasn't me! You are the reliance for me and the child, how could I do anything to harm you? Besides, the Gu family has medicine in their hands too; they purchased it as well."

Li Yuan said no more. Lin Siyan leaned closer to him, and seeing that he didn't push her away this time, she felt her risky actions hadn't been in vain—it could be considered killing two birds with one stone.

Early the next morning, the two families each prepared their breakfast.

The Li family had their usual dry flatbreads. They had gone damp, and after being sealed up for a day, the smell had changed. However, they had very little left, and with no money in their hands, throwing them away meant having nothing at all.

Meanwhile, the Gu family's breakfast was exceptionally lavish today: the leftover roasted wild boar meat from yesterday, wild bird eggs, and boiled goat's milk.

Even though they had milked the goat just last night, there was another large basin of it this morning, and there would still be plenty left by noon. With this mountain goat around, they truly didn't have to worry about food.

Just as Li Mumu was wondering how to persuade everyone not to eat the roasted wild boar meat, Zhang Xiang walked over with his belly protruding.

"Is there any of yesterday's roasted pork left?"

The flavor had been good. He had stuffed himself yesterday, but after a night's sleep, he wanted to eat it again.

Li Mumu's eyes lit up. "Yes, there is. If Uncle likes it, you can take all of it."

Since she offered it, and since the wild boar was discovered by her in the first place, no one raised any objections. They had eaten their fill yesterday, and truly didn't feel much appetite for it this morning.

"Oh, this little girl certainly knows how to handle things," Zhang Xiang said without standing on ceremony. He picked up the basin containing the better part of the wild boar meat and walked away.

Seeing this, Lin Siyan was startled and hurriedly got up to block him. "Official, this... this wild boar meat is leftover."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zhang Xiang asked impatiently.

"I..."

"Move aside," Zhang Xiang pushed her away. "If you want to eat, fine. Tonight, you can come warm the bed for your lord here."

Li Yuan grew somewhat anxious as well, especially seeing Zhang Xiang so blatantly casting intentions toward his woman. "Official, this wild boar meat has sat out for a night, I'm afraid eating it might cause discomfort. We are just offering a kindly reminder."

"When it comes down to it, you're just craving it yourself, aren't you?" Zhang Xiang sneered a few times. "Can't even manage to feed yourselves, yet you still put on airs of refinement, sending your woman out to steal food. If I were you, I'd find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Go on, go on, step aside."

Zhang Xiang shoved Li Yuan away, then called out to the other yamen runners to come and share the food.

Lin Siyan panicked completely. "What should we do, Brother Yuan?"

Li Yuan was helpless as well.

At this point, they could only pray that the laxative wouldn't work.

Song Qiang sighed and lowered her voice. "Sigh, what a waste of that wild boar meat."

Old Madam Gu smiled. "It's not a waste. A few pieces of pork in exchange for our peace and safety is well worth it."

Sensing that some matters couldn't be kept hidden for much longer, Li Mumu said, "It's not a waste; that pork can't be eaten."

"It sat out overnight, it shouldn't be spoiled," Gu Mingjing said gently, then smiled as he looked down at the little girl.

Li Mumu shook her head and lowered her voice. "It's not spoiled. It was drugged."

The group looked at each other in dismay, instantly recalling how Lin Siyan had sneaked over to their side last night.

Zhang Yi was equally astonished. "Mumu, are you saying Lin Siyan tampered with the meat?"

"Yes, she put a laxative in it. Somebody is going to have a miserable time today."

The members of the Gu family quickly understood why the little girl hadn't made a fuss yesterday. If they had raised an alarm back then, the most they could have done was hurl a few curses. Since Lin Siyan was pregnant, actually taking physical action against her would have been troublesome if she suffered a miscarriage.

But now, the conflict had shifted to Lin Siyan and the yamen runners. As for what kind of end Lin Siyan would meet, they would simply wait and watch.

Sure enough, less than half an hour after setting off, the yamen runners who had eaten the roasted pork began to experience stomach cramps one by one, and within a short while, they were all hurrying off to relieve themselves.

Lin Siyan was both nervous and somewhat expectant, wondering how the Gu family was going to deal with the fallout.