Mu Mianmian dodged effortlessly.
“Ah!”Old Madam Ye missed and fell hard to the ground.
“Ow! Mu Mianmian hit me—she’s abusing an elderly person!”
The two Shen women and Madam Zhou immediately rushed over to help the old woman up.
“Mu Mianmian, you’ve gone too far!”
“Even if you refuse to be filial, you can’t lay hands on your grandmother!”
The women wailed dramatically, hurling accusations and curses.
People nearby gathered to watch the commotion.
“What’s all this noise?”The guards came over as well.
“Officer!” Shen Jia hurriedly stood up and pointed at Mu Mianmian, righteous indignation written all over her face.“Mu Mianmian hit my grandmother and abused an elderly person!”
Old Madam Ye sat on the ground groaning pitifully.“Officer, you must uphold justice for us!”
Liu Tao felt a headache coming on just looking at this group of women.
“Mu Mianmian, did you hit her?”
“No,” Mu Mianmian replied calmly.“Old Madam Ye tried to take my rabbit. When I refused, she struck me first.”
“Commander Liu, our families have already separated. I alone must care for my entire household. The second and third branches of the Ye family refused to help carry my husband and father-in-law, which is why the family split.”
“And now they want us to be filial to Old Madam Ye again. Do you think that’s appropriate?”
“Why don’t we let everyone judge this fairly?”
She stood straight, petite yet composed, explaining the entire situation clearly in just a few sentences.
No crying.No shouting.No theatrics.
Liu Tao looked at the young woman, a trace of admiration flashing in his eyes.
“You’re right—it’s inappropriate,” he said with a smile.“But this is your Ye family’s internal affair. Causing trouble here affects us. That’s where you’re wrong.”
Seeing that Liu Tao didn’t immediately side with Mu Mianmian, Shen Jia secretly felt pleased.
“Commander Liu is right,” she said.“Eldest sister-in-law, no matter what, you were disrespectful to Grandmother—that’s wrong.”
“So it’s right for you to rob me when I refuse to give you my rabbit?” Mu Mianmian shot back coldly.
“We’ve already split the family and live separately now. Everyone should mind their own lives.”
“If you want meat, your family has plenty of able-bodied men. Do you really need a group of women rolling on the ground throwing tantrums to steal another household’s food just to survive?”
The men of the second and third branches immediately looked embarrassed.
“Who said we were stealing your meat?”
“Mu Mianmian, stop spouting nonsense! Who would care about your lousy rabbit!”
Ye Lao’er and Ye Lao San hurried over, cursing as they helped Old Madam Ye up.
“Mother, let’s go.”
“We’ll take Lan’er and Fei’er into the mountains later and hunt for you.”
“We’ll catch a wild boar to show our filial piety!”
They spoke passionately, full of righteous fervor.
Old Madam Ye was immediately comforted and kept nodding, praising them.
Only then did the family finally quiet down.
Liu Tao glanced at Mu Mianmian, raised an eyebrow as his eyes lingered briefly on her delicate, charming face, and said lazily:
“Miss Mu, you’d best avoid stirring up trouble. I don’t have the time to keep judging household disputes along the way.”
“Yes. Thank you, Commander Liu.”
Mu Mianmian said no more and turned to continue cooking.
By now, many people had gone out to search for food, guards included. But after wandering around nearby, they all returned empty-handed.
The moment they came back, the aroma of meat hit them—braised rabbit and steamed rabbit.
Everyone swallowed hard, then viciously bit into their own dry rations.
“This is strange… wasn’t she supposed to be a jinx?”
“How come all the good luck falls into her lap, and we never encounter anything like this?”
Mu Mianmian went into the forest and came back with rabbits, medicinal herbs, even fresh mushrooms.
The wild vegetables she picked were fresher and more tender than anyone else’s.
“Big Brother, Mother’s health isn’t good. Why don’t we buy a rabbit from the Ye family to nourish her?”
Among the exiles was the Chen family—five people in total.
They had once been nobles in the capital. After angering the emperor, Lord Chen died, leaving Madam Chen to lead her weak family into exile.
The Chen family’s eldest son, Chen Liang, was sixteen. The younger son, Chen Shan, was fifteen. Both were still green, youthful boys.
After discussing it, the brothers approached Mu Mianmian together.
“Miss Mu, would you be willing to sell us one of your rabbits?”
She had caught a whole nest—after killing two, there were still seven or eight left.
Little A-Jin and Mei Niang were playing with them on the grass.
Plump, fluffy rabbits—enough to make anyone drool.
Mu Mianmian replied simply, “Yes.”
But she didn’t know how to price a rabbit, so she turned to look at Ye Siming.