Free Web NovelChapter 29: Chapter 29: Showing off Games
He thought he was seeing it wrong.
Ye Lanxi rubbed his eyes again.
Under the dim light from the oil lamp in the corner of the carriage, the goods in Ye Lingyue’s hands still didn’t change.
"Why does the Second Brother look so surprised?" She pretended to be confused, turning to Ye Lingrui as if she was looking for an explanation.
Ye Lingrui coughed, pulling Ye Lanxi out of his daze.
"Two wild chickens?" He paused and adjusted his expression. "Not bad."
Ye Lingyue’s mouth twitched, and she pulled out the three quails from her pocket. There were also a few eggs.
Then, she slipped back outside. When she returned, she already brought the roasted roe deer inside the carriage. Smugness was written all over her face.
Ye Lanxi fell silent.
Shen Jingyi widened her eyes. "This... did you two catch this?"
"It was Yue’er," Ye Lingrui told her with a smile.
Ye Lingyue raised her brows. "Third Brother... was leading the way."
Meaning, it was the work of the twins.
Shen Jingyi inspected the roasted roe deer. There were really marks of an arrow on its neck. Ye Lingyue really had an excellent archery skill.
"Second Brother, how is it?" She had an innocent look on her face, but for Ye Lanxi, that tone and the flash of smugness was incredibly infuriating.
However, he had to admit that the twins indeed hunted more than them. Awkwardness was written all over his face.
"We put a trap to catch the rabbit so it took a long time just to catch a few... next time, I will also definitely try with a bow," Ye Lanxi muttered. His voice became low.
Shen Jingyi shook her head at the faint rivalry between her children. As long as it was a healthy one, she wouldn’t interfere with them.
The small twins woke up not long after, they were also incredibly hungry. Their eyes lit up upon seeing the huge meat in the carriage.
"Older Sister Yue, what kind of animal is that?" Ye Shaoyin asked curiously. She had never seen an animal like that.
Ye Lingyue blinked and answered, "roe deer."
The two little ones had an amazed look on their faces, and they swallowed. Although the smell was mostly restrained by Ye Lingrui’s concoction, people within a certain range of distance could still smell it.
"Let’s eat!" Ye Lingyue muttered excitedly, showing her gluttonous side.
She began to divide the meat into a few parts and nudged her twin brother to call their father and eldest brother. Shen Jingyi smiled; she was also about to call them.
The moment Ye Chengde and Ye Zhiqiu entered the cramped carriage, they were stunned by the sight of roasted roe deer.
They rubbed their eyes.
"Father, Eldest Brother, go inside. Unfortunately, you two can only sit on the floor..." Ye Lingrui told them.
They were already quite lucky they managed to snatch the biggest carriage from the first branch.
"What is this?" Ye Chengde’s eyes landed on Shen Jingyi. His expression was complicated. "Madam, did you hunt these?"
The rabbit and quails were still alive. The most surprising was the roe deer; it was so big that it should be enough to feed their family.
Shen Jingyi turned to Ye Lingyue, unsure whether she should reveal the truth or not. Ye Lingyue blinked at her and smiled.
She no longer cared. Upon pondering about it, Ye Lingrui didn’t seem to have made a bad decision.
The Ye family didn’t seem bad. They were the kind of solid family that would always have your back.
"Yue’er hunted the roe deer." Shen Jingyi paused, and then added, "Rui’er was in charge of tracking it."
The pair of father and son thought they had heard it wrong. They stared at each other, noticing the confusion being mirrored in the other party’s eyes.
Ye Zhiqiu coughed softly. "Yue’er, Mother?"
Shen Jingyi cleared her throat and said in a modest tone. "She inherited my archery skill."
If she were a male, the Shen family might have assigned her to guard the frontier. Alas, she didn’t have much choice but to let go of her hobby and ambition the moment she married into the Ye family.
She must admit that although they were sneaking out, the activity was quite fun. Shen Jingyi suddenly thought that their current condition wasn’t as bad as she thought.
Ye Chengde had an unreadable expression on his face while Ye Zhiqiu fell into a daze. They glanced at Ye Lingyue, who waved her little paw the moment they looked at her.
A look of surprise crossed their faces. They were already aware that she was recovering, but the rate of her recovery was quite astonishing.
If she could hunt the roe deer with a bow, wouldn’t it mean she was a genius at archery?
"Let’s eat quietly and go back to sleep." Shen Jingyi told them.
Ye Lingrui had already told them the sleeping powder he used on the imperial guards would work only for a few hours. If someone were to wake them up, they would still easily wake up.
The second branch of the Ye family had a feast that night, and their sleep was also much more relaxed.
As the morning came, like usual, they were only given half a bun. The imperial guards were probably worried something might happen to them, so they increased the portion again.
The first and third branch noticeably seemed a lot more haggard compared to the second branch, who seemed to be more refreshed and full of energy.
Alas, their refreshed state was such a stark contrast to other family members that it invited a trouble.
Yan Luo threw a look at his men, and they immediately went to the second branch’s carriage.
"We lost a portion of the provision. Our captain has ordered us to search the carriages," an imperial guard came over aggressively.
"If you confess, of course, we can be more lenient toward you." Another sneered, seemingly having determined that the second branch stole the strictly-controlled provision.
They shoved Ye Lingyue aside, pulling the curtain of the carriage. It revealed the things they have hidden inside.
