Chapter 596: Just Stay Idle

And there was even a bird inside the array. This array? Lin Yao felt puzzled in his heart.

Qin Bi, however, was unaware of Lin Yao's confusion. She didn't even know what a spatial array was; she could only feel the fluctuation of spiritual power around her, and it felt a bit like a defensive shield.

As long as one was inside the array, ordinary magic power could not break it.

Lin Yao wanted to study it further, but Qin Bi said, "Continue picking spiritual fruits. When we finish eating at noon, I'll see how much we've collected and send a batch back. Second Brother, you and Lin Yao pick the fruits; Qin Lang and I will walk around to see if there's anything else."

Lin Yao was worried. "I will accompany the Heir's wife."

"This..." Qin Bi pondered. "Qin Lang has good luck."

Upon hearing his sister unhesitatingly categorize him as someone with good luck, Qin Lang's face showed joy. In this world where luck and fortune were paramount, auspicious words were beneficial, even if one's luck value wasn't high.

Who wouldn't want to have good luck?!

Lin Yao turned to ask Qin Xun, "Can you pick the spiritual fruits by yourself?"

Qin Xun nodded. "I can."

With that settled, Qin Bi and the others picked another basket of spiritual fruits before leaving Qin Xun there to pick them alone. Qin Bi, Qin Lang, and Lin Yao walked among the newly grown trees.

Medicinal herbs grew on the ground, and as they walked, Qin Lang and Lin Yao dug them up.

Qin Bi found some bamboo mushrooms; the small mushrooms were not big and were very tender. Qin Bi was delighted, took a small basket from her storage bag, and placed the picked mushrooms inside.

Lin Yao saw this and said, "These are ordinary mushrooms, but they have the advantage of being very fresh."

Mushrooms, even outside the Beast Realm's small space, were not common. These things only popped up after a rain, and this cultivation world lacked rain, so mushrooms were relatively rare.

It wasn't that they were precious because they were rare, but to eat fresh mushrooms, one had to be lucky enough to catch a farmer who had picked fresh ones from the mountains to sell. If you were a step late, other manors would have bought them all.

Wealthy families also loved to eat fresh mountain goods. When they had nothing to do, they would stroll around the market, and perhaps they would happen upon someone selling mushrooms. They would buy a little, regardless of the price, to make an egg and mushroom soup.

Qin Lang, who was digging medicinal herbs, walked over. "Let's make soup for the little ones."

Qin Bi smiled and nodded. "They are very tender."

The group continued to collect things. Seeing spring bamboo shoots, they dug them up; bamboo shoots were a delicious ingredient. They dug several baskets full. Qin Han, Jiang Ren, and several Marquis Manor young ladies found their way over.

"Wow," Jiang Ren said in surprise. "There are bamboo shoots."

Qin Han didn't want to make things too awkward with Qin Bi, so she found a topic. "Are there many bamboo shoots?"

Qin Bi had no expression. "They're okay."

Jiang Ren looked up and asked, "Aunt, if you've dug a lot of bamboo shoots, can you give me some?"

The little girl felt that she was a junior and young, so the adults wouldn't refuse her request for a few bamboo shoots; they weren't anything rare. Her family had a bamboo forest, and she could eat fresh bamboo shoots every year.

However, Jiang Ren just wanted a few bamboo shoots; she looked at Qin Bi, wanting to test how much affection Qin Bi had for her.

Qin Bi was surprised. She had no feelings for unrelated people. Besides, she came to the Beast Realm's small space to build up family assets for the Rong Prince Manor and her children; what did Qin Han's child have to do with her?!

Several Marquis Manor young ladies secretly observed Qin Bi's expression. Qin Han didn't stop Jiang Ren from asking for the bamboo shoots either.

Why stop her? They weren't anything rare. For cultivation, these kinds of mushrooms were useless; at most, they were a delicacy. If she wouldn't even give a few of these, she was truly stingy.

"No," Qin Bi refused. "Rong Yang and Rong Chi like to eat them."

The Marquis Manor young ladies' mouths turned down in dissatisfaction. Jiang Ren was a child, after all; they were just bamboo shoots, so what was the harm in giving her a few? Qin Bi was too stingy; how did she become the Heir's wife?!

Compared to Qin He, she really didn't measure up.

Qin He was dignified, generous, very approachable, and popular.

Jiang Ren tilted her head. "I love to eat them too."

"Tell your parents to get them for you," Qin Bi had a mouth, so how could she lose to a little girl? It wasn't hard to say she loved bamboo shoots too. She said, "Just say what you want to eat. I assume that with your family's conditions, you can still afford mountain goods."

Qin Han was unhappy and said loudly, "Jiang Ren, don't ask anymore."

Qin Han pulled Jiang Ren away. The Marquis Manor young ladies looked at this one and then at that one, hesitating for a moment before choosing to follow Qin Han. Qin Bi was older than them and had been away from Jingcheng with the third branch for many years, so the Marquis Manor young ladies had no feelings for Qin Bi.

"Why are you asking for bamboo shoots? Is our family lacking that bite of food?" Qin Han criticized Jiang Ren in a roundabout way, saying it while walking so that everyone could hear. Qin Han said, "And she expects us to collect things? She really has the nerve. She's too stingy to even let a child eat a bamboo shoot; how can she expect people to be willing to work for her! Jiang Ren, you're young, go play somewhere else; don't do anything at all. You don't get any credit, and she doesn't even appreciate it."

Qin Lang was angry and wanted to argue with Qin Han.

Lin Yao also frowned. The Rong Heir was a high-spirited and powerful official who had never put anyone in his eyes. Qin Han was just a merchant's wife who only had a bit of face because she was the concubine-born sister of the Heir's wife. What was she trying to stir up?!

Qin Bi stopped Qin Lang. "She is unimportant; whether she works or not is up to her."

Qin Lang was unhappy. "Everyone is busy, and you're letting her stay idle?"

This time, when they came to the Beast Realm's small space, the Qin Yan Marquis Manor had brought few people. Usually, it didn't matter, but after the heavy rain summoned by the "Five Grains Abundance" cloud, a lot of resources appeared, and the manpower seemed insufficient.

It was almost like one person doing the work of two. Qin Han actually wanted to slack off? Qin Lang wouldn't indulge that.

"Let her stay idle," Qin Bi said indifferently. "If she stays idle, she gets nothing."

Qin Lang knew that Qin Bi wasn't being stingy about not giving things to the Marquis Manor disciples; she had her plans, she just wasn't in a hurry to tell everyone. If Qin Han didn't work, she just wouldn't give her any of the distributed items.

The Marquis Manor did not allow family members to be at odds, and arguing was meaningless.

"I'll tell Fourth Uncle later," Qin Lang didn't intend to let it go just like that.

Qin Bi didn't care about that and continued to pick mushrooms. Lin Yao also felt it was necessary to let Qin Di and his son know what was going on; their Rong Prince Manor's Heir's wife hadn't made things difficult for her concubine-born sister.

It was Qin Han who didn't know her place; as a merchant's wife, she had no idea how much she was worth.

The families of the Great Yan didn't like family members fighting, and Lin Yao didn't want to incite the Heir's wife to slap Qin Han. It was better not to hit her; this world had a reputation value, and he didn't want a slap to wipe that reputation value away.

After digging another basket of bamboo shoots, Qin Bi and the others returned.

At this time, Qin Tan, the Heir, and others were still chopping trees, using spiritual power to fell them. A pile of branches had accumulated, but Qin Bi looked at it and decided it wasn't worth sending a batch back; it was too wasteful of the teleportation array.

"If Qin He hadn't caused trouble," Qin Tan said, "we could have teleported once."

He He Shizi was also dissatisfied; it delayed the collection of things, and they hadn't saved up enough to teleport the items that could have been sent.