Shen Shuangshuang paid for the flatbreads and dried sweet potatoes, loading them into the cart, then went to buy water pouches.
Three large pouches, three small ones, cost one silver and five qian.
Next came backpacks, bedding, rain cloths, straw raincoats, an oiled-paper umbrella, a simple pot-and-stove set, and a few coarse porcelain bowls.
By the time she finished shopping, the handcart was piled high and looked heavy—but when she pushed it, it moved effortlessly.
She knew it was thanks to the Spirit Spring water. After drinking it for so long, not only had her health improved, but her strength had increased considerably.
Just as she pushed the cart back to the gathering point, she heard a commotion.
Looking up, she saw Shen Jiaojiao and her eldest aunt Zhang, supporting Lady Zhou, shouting and cursing at Xiang Meimei and Shen Yaozong.
“You there! Did you hide silver?”
Zhang pointed at Xiang Meimei’s nose. “I saw it! You slipped something to this little brat—must be silver!”
Shen Jiaojiao chimed in: “Exactly! Now that everyone is in hardship, if you have silver, you should share it! Why should your branch hoard it?”
Xiang Meimei, clutching her belly, said coldly: “I didn’t hide any silver. What I gave Shuangshuang were just a few handkerchiefs. You misread it.”
“We didn’t misread!” Shen Jiaojiao screamed. “Do you take us for fools? Without silver, how could she buy so many things?”
Shen Yaozong stepped in front of Xiang Meimei: “Those things were bought with the little savings we had. What does that have to do with you?”
“Who says it’s none of our business?” Zhang crossed her arms. “We’re all Shen family. If we’re exiled together, we starve together! Why should you hoard supplies? Hand over the silver, or we’ll tell the officials you’re hiding wealth!”
Xiang Meimei’s face turned pale with anger, about to retort, when Shen Shuangshuang pushed her cart over.
Shen Jiaojiao’s eyes immediately landed on the goods, her own turning red. She rushed over, pointing: “Ha! So you really bought all this! Hand over the silver, or leave all this behind!”
Shen Shuangshuang pushed the cart beside Shen Yaozong, voice cold: “No.”
“You dare say no?” Shen Jiaojiao reached for the flatbreads. “These things should be ours too!”
Shen Shuangshuang had anticipated this. She grabbed her wrist, twisted it behind, and…
“Ah! It hurts!” Shen Jiaojiao screamed.
Shen Shuangshuang didn’t release her. Instead, she yanked her by the hair.
“I told you not to steal!”
As she cursed, she slapped Shen Jiaojiao across the face.
“You stole my jewelry at the Marquisate, now my food. Do you think I’m easy to bully?”
“You… you dare hit me?”
Shen Jiaojiao, stunned, snapped back and lunged at Shen Shuangshuang.
“I’ll fight you to the death!”
Shen Shuangshuang sidestepped and kicked her in the knee.
Shen Jiaojiao fell with a thud, tears welling from the pain.
Zhang and Lady Zhou rushed forward to help.
Zhang reached for Shen Shuangshuang’s hair, Lady Zhou tried to push Xiang Meimei.
Shen Shuangshuang was lightning fast—elbowing Zhang away, spinning, and kicking Lady Zhou in the stomach.
“Ouch!” Lady Zhou staggered back and collapsed to the ground.
Zhang crashed into a pillar, grimacing in pain.
“Who else dares try?”
Hands on her hips, Shen Shuangshuang glared at the senior branch. “I’ve been starving these days. Anyone who dares steal from me, I’ll fight to the death!”
The eldest branch’s men—Shen Zihan, Shen Zixiang, Shen Zikun—were all weak scholars, not fighters.
Seeing Shen Shuangshuang so fierce, they hesitated, but Zhang’s glare forced them forward.
“Shuangshuang! You’ve gone too far! How dare you hit your elders!”
Shen Zihan reached to grab her, but she countered with a punch to his face.
“Smack!” Blood immediately ran from his nose.
“Brother!”
Shen Zixiang and Shen Zikun cried out, rushing at her.
Shen Shuangshuang wasn’t flustered. Dodging and weaving, she landed punches and kicks at intervals.
Her strength was real. One punch sent Shen Zixiang stumbling three steps back, nearly falling.
The onlookers were shocked. No one expected this seemingly frail girl to fight so ferociously.
Even the officials noticed but didn’t intervene. They disliked the bickering prisoners anyway and were glad to watch them fight.
Shen Yaozong and Xiang Meimei stood aside, completely unconcerned.
Xiang Meimei whispered: “Look at our daughter. She’s amazing. No one will dare bully her in the future.”
Shen Yaozong nodded proudly: “Of course. She’s our daughter.”
Soon, the three eldest branch men were sprawled on the ground, faces battered.
Shen Jiaojiao cried, while Zhang and Lady Zhou dared not advance, glaring hatefully at Shen Shuangshuang.
“Enough!”
A raspy voice rang out. Marquis Quling stepped forward from the crowd, face stern.
“What are you doing? You’re family! Fighting in public like this—isn’t it shameful?”
Shen Shuangshuang kept her hands on her hips: “Grandfather, they stole from me first, so I defended myself. If you try to protect them, I’ll fight you too.”
She knew Marquis Quling usually ignored the senior branch, so him suddenly intervening could be suspicious.
The old man was momentarily speechless, his face alternating red and white.
Everyone was watching. He knew the eldest branch was at fault, so he scolded Zhang and Lady Zhou: “I saw it all. You went to trouble the third branch first! Have you forgotten who ruined the Shen family? And now you have the face to steal from others?”
Zhang protested: “Marquis, we had no choice! We had no silver, couldn’t buy food, and the third branch had silver but hoarded it. How is that fair?”
“Fair?” Marquis Quling trembled with anger. “You just gathered some silver earlier—why not use that? Why steal from the third branch?”
It turned out the eldest branch had sold their last valuables—the silver hairpin of Lady Zhou and Shen Jiaojiao’s jade pendant—to the merchants, raising three taels.
Lady Zhou hurriedly explained: “Those three taels were for Yaowen to buy medicine. He just got whipped; we can’t misuse it.”
“For his sake, you steal from your own family?”