Chapter 17: The Child Qin He Bore is a Treasure

As soon as these words were spoken, Qin Yan Hou and the others were all furious.

Qin Bi couldn't help but smile slightly—it wasn't obvious, not enough to be noticed by others. She could imagine that Qin He's inner thoughts were about not raising people who had nothing to do with her, as they were all freeloaders who needed the Marquis Manor to support them.

Of course, this also included her, Qin Bi.

To tell the truth, Qin Bi hadn't eaten a single grain of rice from the Second Branch, and the Fourth Branch hadn't benefited from Qin He in the slightest.

The relationship was set; from the very beginning, the transmigrator was at odds with them. Qin Bi was in the Fourth Branch, so how could Qin He possibly look after the Fourth Branch? And as for the Third Branch, which had taken Qin Bi away from Jingcheng, Qin He didn't like them either.

The Third Branch might have received some small favors, but not many. Yet, Qin He couldn't stand the fact that she felt both the Third and Fourth Branches were "top-grade" freeloaders—each one of them followed her to eat and drink well, yet they were still unsatisfied.

The First Branch had indeed managed to get some scraps by following Qin He. Qin He wanted to establish a foothold in the Marquis Manor; as a concubine-born daughter, she couldn't do it without Qin Yan Hou's protection.

The old Qin Yan Hou was only surprised for a moment, then sighed: "Forget it."

It wasn't clear what this "forget it" meant, but it should mean not to hold a grudge. After all, Qin He had the best talent in the entire Qin Yan Hou Manor. This world was dominated by cultivation, and talent was highly valued.

Qin Bi actually wanted to hold a grudge, but she had no ability to compare herself to Qin He. The child Qin He bore was a Treasure.

That child had swallowed two Auspicious Clouds before being born. The Great Yan Kingdom only had three Auspicious Clouds in total, and she had swallowed two. Thinking of this, Qin Bi felt a lump in her throat. Swallowing Auspicious Clouds—she didn't know if it was good for the Great Yan Kingdom's fortune.

Qin Yan Hou exhaled a breath of turbid air. Qin Bi smiled and said to her father and brothers: "You don't need the spiritual plants either."

Not using yours, yet you can still look down on people?

Qin Di sneered: "We can't afford to use them anyway."

Qin Lang was unhappy in his heart and said indignantly: "It's fortunate we didn't use them, otherwise who knows how we would be looked down upon behind our backs. The Marquis Manor hasn't divided the family yet; our food and expenses are paid with public silver, and the Second Branch also spends from the public funds. Hearing it from her mouth, it's as if she's supporting our entire Marquis Manor."

Lady Zhu tugged at Qin Lang: "Say less."

"What did I say?" Qin Lang said: "My father has a salary from his outside post; we didn't ask her to support us."

Qin Tan didn't stop him. Who did Qin He think she was looking down on? The Third Branch hadn't eaten or drunk her share. If there were spiritual plants, she could give them; if not, then forget it. There was no need to find an excuse to brush them off and then insist on saying such rude things.

Qin Yan Hou and the old Marquis exchanged a look and sighed. The Fourth and Third Branches were now harboring resentment toward the Second Branch. Activating a spiritual root was no small matter, yet Qin He had to pull such a stunt at this time.

Qin Qi lifted his robes and hurried to the front courtyard, holding a wooden box in each hand. From afar, he said: "I've brought the spiritual plants."

Qin He had refused, but Qin Qi couldn't disregard his brothers, so he took the spiritual plants he had saved up to bring them over.

"We can't afford to use them." Qin Tan was not polite at all. His outside post was as a County Magistrate, and he carried the fortune of the Great Yan Kingdom, possessing his own dignity. He bowed to the old Qin Yan Hou: "Father, we will return first."

Qin Di followed: "We are returning too."

The old Qin Yan Hou nodded. The people of the Fourth and Third Branches left together, leaving Qin Qi feeling uncomfortable. Qin Yan Hou didn't know what to say either. Qin Qi inquired and learned that Qin Di, his son, and Qin Lang had all activated their spiritual roots, only then revealing a smile.

The people of the Third Branch followed them to the Fourth Branch to sit for a while, then went back to prepare things for their training.

Seeing that the hour was late, Qin Bi stood up and returned to the Prince Rong Manor.

Once Qin Bi left, Lady He pulled a long face: "I don't have a spiritual root either. She gave Qin Lang one for nothing, why didn't she say anything to me? It must be because she holds a grudge against me for the marriage with the Yan Guogong Manor."

Lady He wept: "I even fell out with my maiden family for her sake."

With Lady He making a scene, Qin Di's face was full of anger: "It's fine to cut ties with that maiden family of yours. Don't even look at what your maiden family has done. It was agreed to discuss marriage with our family, and just as it was about to be settled, He Yan went back on his word. That would have been fine, but later Qin He was almost cursed to death, and your sister-in-law came begging to propose marriage. We considered the face of relatives and agreed, but later, one thing after another happened—they never looked up to our family at all."

Lady He was in the wrong and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears: "I didn't say they were right, but that was a Spirit-Condensing Pill. To give it to an outsider and not to me..."

Qin Tang advised her: "You should also think about Qin Bi. Back then, when He Yan chose Qin He, she couldn't stay in Jingcheng. It was the Third Uncle's family who took Qin Bi away. That kindness is not light."

Lady He naturally understood; she just felt pained over that Spirit-Condensing Pill: "I am her legal mother, I even cut off my maiden family."

Qin Xun said from the side: "There were only three Spirit-Condensing Pills; it wasn't enough to go around."

"Wasn't it said she refined them?" Lady He paused, then unreasonably demanded: "Make her refine another one."

"Do you really think those are sugar beans?!" Qin Di laughed in anger: "Still refine another one?"

Lady He probably also knew that continuing to make a scene was meaningless, so she quieted down and stopped crying.

Qin Bi returned home. Rong Juan had already returned from court, holding the child. Summer was hot, and the little one flopped weakly into Qin Bi's arms. Rong Juan was on the side, holding a fan to fan the mother and child.

The maids and nannies stood by, but they couldn't snatch the job of fanning.

A maid stepped forward a small step, and Rong Juan swept a cold glance at her. The maid retreated back. Oh, my mother, this job was hers; what was the Heir Apparent doing snatching her job!

Rong Juan asked about the situation of activating the spiritual roots. Qin Bi held the little one and went to dig up some soil, incidentally scooping a few handfuls of soil from a small teacup and putting it into a porcelain flowerpot. When she had saved up enough, she would plant something.

Don't look at the Great Yan Emperor as being simple-minded and uninterested in state affairs, leaving the memorials to Rong Juan and He Yan; the news of Qin Di, his son, and Qin Lang activating their spiritual roots reached the Great Yan Emperor's ears very quickly.

Calling Rong Juan over, the Great Yan Emperor said: "I heard that Qin Tang and the others are going to the Beast Realm small space for training. Let the Heir Apparent Consort go along too; family members can look out for each other."

Without waiting for Rong Juan to refuse, the Great Yan Emperor gave him several teleportation arrays.

Fine, this was the Great Yan Emperor's intention; Rong Juan couldn't continue to brush it off.

Taking the teleportation arrays, Rong Juan went to the Qin Yan Hou Manor and told Qin Di: "Qin Bi is going too."

Qin Di hesitated: "Will the child be too young?"

Rong Juan was confident: "Three or five days will be fine."

Qin Di counted Qin Bi in. Rong Juan went back and told Qin Bi, and the next day, Qin Bi went to the Qin Yan Hou Manor. Hearing she had arrived, Qin Lang ran to the Fourth Branch. In the main room, Qin Di and Lady He were both there.

This time, going to the Beast Realm small space for training, Qin Di and his two legal sons were all going; it had all been discussed.

Qin Bi disagreed: "The beasts in the Beast Realm are ferocious. If we can't beat them and all perish there, the Fourth Branch will have no one left."

Qin Di: "..."

Lady He: "..."

Qin Tang and Qin Xun: "..."

Qin Lang's eyes went straight. What kind of talk was this?

Qin Di was stunned for a moment. He didn't talk about training anymore. If he and his two legal sons, plus Qin Bi, all went to train and all perished in the Beast Realm, the Fourth Branch would be at the mercy of others.

What Qin Bi said didn't sound pleasant, but, come to think of it, it really was the truth. ===== CHAPTER 18 =====