A faint smile curled at the corner of Zhu Mingqing's lips as she leaned close to her ear and said, "Mother has quite a bit of silver stashed away, doesn't she? Where do you suppose she hides it? If you want something to eat, bring silver to trade for it."
Madam Song snapped back to her senses, her eyes widening. "You dare to covet—"
"Shh—be careful, the walls have ears."
Madam Song immediately fell silent, stomping her foot in frustration before turning and walking away.
The Old Princess Consort saw her return empty-handed and her expression soured. "What, she wouldn't give it? This is outright rebellion!"
Madam Song glanced at her third sister-in-law and said in a low voice, "Mother, all the money in the household has been hidden away by you, hasn't it?"
The Old Princess Consort's expression shifted, a wary look in her eyes. "Why do you ask?"
"It's the eldest sister-in-law," Madam Song said, not admitting that she herself wanted the food. "She said if we want to eat, we have to pay with silver. Mother, your body is weak and needs proper nourishment. If we had that silver, what would we have to fear on this journey? Even when we reach Guancheng, we'd have more than enough."
Beside them, Mrs. Wu craned her neck, catching only the faintest mention of silver, and her eyes lit up instantly.
She scrambled to her feet and came over. "Mother, are you tired? How about I massage your shoulders?"
Without waiting for the Old Princess Consort to respond, she pressed down hard.
"Ow—!"
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the mountain forest as the Old Princess Consort broke out in a cold sweat.
…
"Grandfather, eat more slowly." Luo Huai saw him eating too hastily and immediately handed over a water skin.
Old Prince Luo was eating with great relish. If he could have meals like this every time, then the exile would not have been in vain.
"Huai'er, you should eat something too, to settle your stomach."
Luo Huai shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
As soon as he said that, a portion of food appeared before him.
The aroma was tantalizing, and his stomach let out a loud growl.
Luo Huai's face flushed red.
Zhu Mingqing pushed the bowl forward again, practically bringing it to his lips.
"Eat."
Luo Huai lowered his gaze and saw that the food in the bowl was almost untouched.
He repeated the same excuse: "I'm not hungry."
Zhu Mingqing couldn't help but laugh. "Are you sure you really don't want to eat?" As she spoke, she tilted her left hand slightly…
Luo Huai immediately stopped her, hesitating as he asked, "Mother, is it that you're not hungry, or that you don't want to eat?"
Zhu Mingqing rolled her eyes.
Obviously—after walking all day, who wouldn't be hungry?
But she could endure it. This meal had its purpose. She would go to the Spatial Storage for a late-night snack later.
With an expression that said "you matter most," she said in a very serious tone, "Don't ask. This family can't do without you. Eat up."
Luo Huai's heart stirred.
His mother was going hungry just to give him food.
She really seemed to have changed.
He liked the mother she was now.
Old Prince Luo turned to look at his own empty bowl, his face flushing with shame.
"Huai'er, I'm not worthy of being your grandfather. I ate all your food. Don't bring me any more food from now on."
With that, he turned his head away and began sulking.
This was the first time Zhu Mingqing had interacted with her nominal father-in-law. In her memories, this Old Prince was extremely imposing, and everyone in the household was afraid of him.
The original owner would hide from him every time she saw him.
She never expected that the Old Prince, feared by all, could be like this.
Luo Huai was just about to console his grandfather when his mother smacked him on the head. "Eat up. We'll talk after you finish."
"Oh." He obediently acknowledged, then picked up his chopsticks and took a measured bite.
After that, he abandoned all pretense of etiquette, wolfing down the rest of the food in no time.
Zhu Mingqing smiled with satisfaction. Good, he ate.
"Are you full?"
Luo Huai was actually still a little hungry, but he nodded and said, "I'm full. Thank you, Mother."
After saying that, perhaps feeling it was a bit perfunctory, he added, "Whatever you need in the future, you must tell me. I…"
Zhu Mingqing smiled with narrowed eyes. "Forget the future—Mother has something she needs your help with right now."
Luo Huai: "…What is it?"
She cleared her throat, her expression extremely sincere. "I want to split the family and live separately. You'll support that, right?"
Why did she need Luo Huai's support?
Because she was afraid that if she proposed the family division outright and the children disagreed, it might very well not go through.
Even if she could separate on her own, the children would still be there, and in the future, they'd inevitably remain entangled with the second and third branches.
So, if she could win over Luo Huai, and the other two children listened to him, they could cut ties with those people entirely.
As for the eldest—if he truly didn't listen, she'd just split him off on his own.
Luo Huai's eyes flickered, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Mother wants to divide the family?"
"What, do you object?" Zhu Mingqing's expression shifted.
"No… how could I…"
He was just shocked by this.
Before, his mother had always listened to Grandmother. Now she actually wanted to separate from Grandmother.
It seemed she really had changed.
And besides, why would he object? He couldn't wait to split the family.
"I object!"
A hoarse but firm and resolute voice came from the side.
Old Prince Luo's gaze was piercing as he scrutinized his eldest daughter-in-law.
Zhu Mingqing blinked, her expression perfectly calm. "Why?"
Old Prince Luo looked at her with astonishment instead. "You're not afraid of me?"
Zhu Mingqing smiled gracefully, offering herself a reasonable explanation: "Father, with your unwavering loyalty and dedication to protecting our nation, how could I ever fear you? I was simply awestruck by your towering presence, and dared not show the slightest disrespect."
Old Prince Luo was, for the first time, being praised so directly and openly to his face, and felt a momentary embarrassment.
But having weathered many storms, he quickly recovered, his mood considerably better than before.
He spoke earnestly: "Tingshan is gone now. If I were to abandon you all, how would you get by in the days ahead?
Life on this exile road is hard. Only by supporting one another as a family can we safely reach Guancheng.
So, for your own sake and for the children's, we cannot split the family."
Zhu Mingqing had long anticipated he would say this. She lacked nothing in food or drink, and her wealth was beyond measure.
Anyone might fail to reach Guancheng, but she was the sole exception.
"No matter what comes, I am mentally prepared." Zhu Mingqing's stance was resolute. "As for the family, I am determined to split it."
She then turned to look at Luo Huai and walked aside: "You, come with me."
Luo Huai watched her express her thoughts fearlessly and turn away decisively. After a moment of silence, he looked back at his grandfather: "I'll go speak with Mother."
"Ah!" Old Prince Luo sighed. "Go then, and try to persuade your mother."
Luo Huai rose and followed her. Before he could voice his true thoughts, something was pressed into his arms.
By the moonlight, he could see it was a stack of silver notes, each worth a thousand taels.
Luo Huai's dark pupils involuntarily contracted.
So much money…
Zhu Mingqing quickly took them back and smiled gently: "You're clever enough to understand your mother's meaning, aren't you?"
Luo Huai quickly regained his composure. Though he didn't know the source of the silver notes, they could only have come from his maternal grandfather's family or been saved up by his mother herself.
Of course, they couldn't be given away for nothing to others.
"Rest assured, Mother. I'll have a proper talk with Grandfather."
Zhu Mingqing encouraged him: "You truly are my good son. This family really cannot do without you."
Luo Huai remained calm on the surface, but ripples stirred within his heart.
Seeing the two of them conversing so well, Old Prince Luo assumed his eldest daughter-in-law had changed her mind, and thought to himself that he should speak to his wife and the other children about treating the eldest branch better from now on.