Chapter 12: Harvest

Snakes are not like frogs.

Snakes are poisonous!

If you are bitten, there is only one word for it—death.

“Jiuniang!”

Fu-mu was trembling all over with fear.

Yet, she still gritted her teeth and held Wang Heng tightly in her arms.

While holding the child securely, Fu-mu desperately tried to dodge to the side—

*Wuwu*, Heavens, this eldest young master of the Lou family is too vicious; he actually brought out a green bamboo snake, such a venomous creature.

And he deliberately threw it toward her Jiuniang.

If the snake were to really coil around Jiuniang and bite her...

Just thinking about it made Fu-mu’s vision go black.

However, what terrified Fu-mu even more was yet to come.

Facing the venomous snake that had "descended from the heavens," Wang Heng was not scared into crying, nor did she even dodge.

She actually raised her hand, aimed, and pinched the snake directly.

Her fair, chubby little hand held the small, emerald-green snake.

The little snake seemed to have been pinched at its vital spot; its entire body went limp as if its bones had been removed. It didn't move at all, its body merely swaying in mid-air according to inertia.

“...Jiu, Jiu—”

Witnessing this scene with her own eyes, Fu-mu felt as if her own throat had been constricted, making it difficult to utter a complete sentence.

“A snake! A venomous snake!”

Cui-shi had originally been sitting on her palanquin, acting pretentious and enjoying being carried by two sturdy maids.

Seeing the eldest young master suddenly appear and throw an object in their direction, she thought of the toad that had disgusted her so much she fainted earlier.

She felt a wave of nausea, and goosebumps broke out all over her body.

Immediately after, someone recognized that the green little thing "flying" in the air was a snake—a highly venomous green bamboo snake—and Cui-shi was so frightened her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.

She hurriedly tried to stand up to escape the place, forgetting that she was still on the palanquin.

The maids carrying the palanquin were also trembling with fear at the sudden appearance of the venomous snake, wishing they could run away. With Cui-shi struggling, the palanquin began to sway left and right like a suspension bridge over a cliff.

“Ahhh!”

“Someone! Come here! Someone! Hold me! Quickly! Quickly hold me!”

Feeling her body lose its balance and fearing she would fall from the palanquin, Cui-shi gripped the handle tightly with one hand while instinctively placing the other over her lower abdomen.

This was perhaps a mother’s instinct. Even though the fetus in her womb was less than a month old—just a tiny sprout—it was the first thing Cui-shi thought of when she encountered danger.

“Eldest Young Master! How unruly!”

“Someone! Quickly, take this snake away!”

“...A-Yao! You two, quickly put the palanquin down! Protect A-Yao!”

Cui Tai-furen was elderly after all. Although she was also afraid of the venomous snake, she managed to maintain a degree of composure.

She did not wail or flee, but instead reprimanded the troublemaking eldest young master while focusing on her own niece.

Cui Tai-furen had already learned from Cui-shi that her niece might be pregnant.

In the first trimester, the fetus is at its most fragile.

The palanquin was not very high off the ground, no more than the height of a person.

But Cui-shi was a pregnant woman; if she fell accidentally, the adult might be injured, let alone the fetus in her belly.

In her anxiety, Cui Tai-furen revealed a bit of her concern.

Her gaze kept falling involuntarily on Cui-shi’s belly.

This aunt and niece from the Cui family... one protecting, one watching... there was likely some "secret" in that lower abdomen.

The only person on the scene who could be considered calm was perhaps Wang Lin.

Although he also looked anxious, his eyes were very clear.

He even had the leisure to observe the reactions of Cui Tai-furen, Cui-shi, and the others.

Of course, Wang Lin wasn't just watching. He hadn't forgotten that his own Jiuniang was still holding a venomous snake in her hand.

He lunged toward Wang Heng in a flash...

All of this happened simultaneously, in the blink of an eye.

Wang Heng was young and didn't pay much attention to the rest; she just looked at the limp little snake "hanging" from her hand.

She tilted her head and looked at the excited eldest young master. Before he could happily clap and laugh, she asked joyfully, “Brother, is this a gift for A-Jiu?”

A gi-gift?

As soon as Wang Heng’s words fell, everyone present, including Wang Lin who had just rushed to her side, was stunned.

*Thump!*

Finally, on the other side, Cui-shi fell directly to the ground from the swaying palanquin.

Seeing this, Wang Lin pivoted on his toes, his body instantly turning from facing Wang Heng to facing Cui-shi.

He hurriedly reached out to help Cui-shi up.

Cui-shi had to be thankful that the maids she brought out this time were quite reliable.

Coupled with the order Cui Tai-furen had just shouted, the sturdy maids carrying the palanquin obediently lowered it.

When Cui-shi fell, the palanquin was only half a meter off the ground.

Two other maids lunged forward, acting as human cushions beneath Cui-shi.

Although Cui-shi fell, she didn't suffer any injuries.

“Mistress! Are, are you alright?”

“Someone! Come quickly, call a doctor, go call a doctor!”

Wang Lin followed the momentum, rushed to Cui-shi’s side, and pulled her into his arms.

He checked on Cui-shi while shouting loudly.

His anxious appearance looked exactly like that of a peerless, loving husband.

Cui-shi was safe despite the scare. Although her face was extremely pale, the feeling of her feet finally touching the ground settled her heart, which had been hanging in the air.

Looking up, she saw her husband’s concerned face; the affection and guilt in his eyes felt like a warm current soothing her heart.

“Husband, do not worry! I, I am fine!”

When she said this, Cui-shi still instinctively stroked her lower abdomen and added silently in her heart: *The child should be fine too!*

Cui-shi did not see Wang Lin’s small movement when he rushed over, and she did not know that the person Wang Lin had instinctively wanted to save was Wang Heng.

She only assumed Wang Lin had been rushing toward her from the start, and she was enveloped in sweetness and happiness.

Cui Tai-furen had seen it, but looking at her niece’s intoxicated expression, she held her tongue.

Cui-shi was fine, and the snake was in the Wang girl’s hand, so Cui Tai-furen stopped worrying.

She darkened her face and looked at the eldest young master with a rare, stern expression: “Eldest Young Master! You are truly too unruly this time!”

“Playing is fine, but how can you catch such a dangerous thing?”

The eldest young master was feeling a bit deflated by Wang Heng’s question, “Brother, is this a gift for A-Jiu?”

A gift?

*I was trying to scare you properly, to let you know what fear is!*

*And yet, the chubby girl wasn't scared into crying, and she caught that stupid snake with one hand!*

*It really is a stupid snake. It’s a venomous snake that makes people turn pale at the mention of its name, after all.*

*Even if its fangs were pulled and its venom removed, it shouldn't be this useless.*

*So stupid, just like those lowly and useless servants!*

The eldest young master was very irritable.

*What is wrong with this chubby girl?*

*Toads, not afraid!*

*Snakes, not afraid!*

*Is she, is she even a little girl at all!*

In fact, not to mention little girls, even little boys would be scared into wetting their pants at the sight of a "venomous snake."

The eldest young master had often "paraded" this green bamboo snake around the inner courtyard of the Lou family.

The young masters of the various branches of the Lou family had, almost without exception, been scared into trembling and kneeling to beg for mercy by the eldest young master.

The eldest young master had even threatened them all: “You are not allowed to tell anyone about this, otherwise... *hehe*, I will put the venomous snake on your beds or inside your robes!”

It was too vicious, too terrifying.

All the young masters of the Lou family were scared, nodding frantically: “We won't tell! We won't tell!”

Therefore, the eldest young master had been getting away with having a venomous snake for quite some time, and the female relatives like Cui Tai-furen had no idea.

Until this moment—

“That’s right, Eldest Young Master, how can you play with snakes?”

“This little beast is poisonous; one careless move could cost a life!”

“And those lowly maids serving the Eldest Young Master, they didn't even know he had a venomous snake?”

The key was that they hadn't reported it.

Cui Tai-furen had been caught off guard, and her own niece had nearly been harmed by a snake.

Even if she wasn't injured, rolling off a palanquin in public was somewhat embarrassing.

For noble ladies of prominent families, one cannot afford to take a single wrong step in public!

Falling off a palanquin in public was just as undignified as rolling out of a carriage or falling into water in public.

“Hmph! Didn't you hear what the chubby girl said? That’s right! A gift! This is a gift I gave to the chubby girl!”

“The chubby girl is a guest, right? I am the host. A host giving a guest a gift—isn't that the ‘rules’ you all harp on about every day?”

Although the eldest young master was a bit deflated by Wang Heng, seeing that even Cui Tai-furen, who usually favored him, had a cold face and looked as if she were about to lecture him, he seized upon Wang Heng’s words to retort.

Cui Tai-furen and the other female relatives of the Lou family:...

*This... the Eldest Young Master actually has some quick wit; he’s even learned to quibble.*

*And that chubby girl, Wang Heng, with her seemingly innocent words, actually gave the Eldest Young Master a way out.*

Cui Tai-furen gripped her handkerchief tightly. Her face remained impassive, but her eyes flickered.

Wang Lin, who had been playing the part of the affectionate husband, was also intrigued.

While personally lifting Cui-shi up, he said softly to the others: “It is fine. This snake must have been handled!”

The eldest young master was mischievous, but the people around him were trained in the rules.

Even if they wanted to "indulge" the eldest young master, they wouldn't dare let him be in real danger.

Want a venomous snake?

Fine, the servants or even the guards would catch one.

But after catching it, the first step would be to find someone who knew snakes to pull out the fangs.

Only after confirming it was harmless would they hand it to the young master.

They were all from prominent families; Wang Lin himself had had some strange hobbies when he was young.

The servants in the household naturally had ways to keep their masters happy while ensuring their safety.

That was why Wang Lin had dared to rush toward his daughter just now—he had guessed that the snake was harmless!

Furthermore, besides guessing, Wang Lin had observed that after his daughter pinched the snake, it remained limp and made no move to attack.

This also showed that the snake had been "trained"!

It did not dare to attack its "master."

“Hmph! Boring!”

Seeing that his most mysterious little treasure’s secret had been exposed in public, the eldest young master immediately felt it was no fun.

He flicked his sleeves and ran off, ignoring Cui Tai-furen’s attempt to lecture him.

Cui Tai-furen:...

Although she was the one who had spoiled the eldest young master into being lawless, seeing him be so unruly and mischievous, Cui Tai-furen was actually quite satisfied.

But every time she faced such an unruly, unfilial little brat, Cui Tai-furen couldn't help but feel stifled.

The eldest young master’s "bear-like" behavior was indiscriminate; he wouldn't treat her differently just because she was an elder.

To some extent, Cui Tai-furen could be said to be "reaping what she sowed."

Wang Lin took all of this in without a change in expression.

Today’s trip had been very fruitful.

First, he had learned of Cui-shi’s "secret."

Second, he had witnessed the unruly and untouchable little tyrant of the Lou family.

...Wang Lin would silently note all these details and use them perfectly when the time came.

For example, Cui-shi.

If she did not behave and continued to throw her weight around in the Wang family, he would not do anything openly, but in the shadows, he would retaliate.

He would let Cui-shi know that the Wang family was surnamed Wang, not Cui.

He, Wang Lin, was a noble son of a prominent family, not a lowly servant for her to boss around...