Chapter 17: Qin Hesheng's Child is Fubao

Upon these words, Marquis Qin Yan and the others were all incensed.

Qin Bi couldn't help but let out a small, subtle smile, not so obvious as to be noticed. She could easily imagine Qin He's inner thoughts: that those who are irrelevant are not worth supporting, as they are merely freeloaders living off the Marquis's household.

Of course, this included Qin Bi herself.

To be honest, Qin Bi hadn't eaten a single grain of rice from the Second Branch, nor had the Fourth Branch benefited from Qin He in the slightest.

The relationships were set; they had been at odds since the moment of transmigration. Since Qin Bi was in the Fourth Branch, how could Qin He possibly look after them? Furthermore, Qin He disliked the Third Branch for taking Qin Bi away from the capital.

The Third Branch might have received some benefits, but not much. However, Qin He felt that both the Third and Fourth Branches were "extreme" types—each of them supposedly living in luxury thanks to her, yet remaining ungrateful.

The First Branch, on the other hand, had indeed managed to catch some scraps from Qin He. Since Qin He wanted to establish a foothold in the Marquis's manor, as a concubine-born daughter, she couldn't do without the protection of Marquis Qin Yan.

The old Marquis was merely surprised and sighed, "Forget it."

It was unclear what "forget it" meant here, but it likely meant he wouldn't hold it against her. After all, Qin He was the most talented person in the entire Qin Yan Marquis household, and in this world, which centered on cultivation, talent was highly valued.

Qin Bi wanted to make an issue of it, but she lacked the ability to compete with Qin He. After all, the child Qin He had given birth to was Fubao.

That child had swallowed two Auspicious Clouds to be born. There were only three Auspicious Clouds in the entire Great Yan Kingdom, and she had swallowed two of them. Thinking of this made Qin Bi feel a knot in her chest; she wondered if swallowing the Auspicious Clouds would have any impact on the destiny of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Marquis Qin Yan exhaled a breath of turbid air. Qin Bi smiled and said to her father and brothers, "You won't be needing spiritual plants anymore."

*If you don't use them, you can't look down on us.*

Qin Di sneered, "We couldn't afford them anyway."

Qin Lang was displeased and said indignantly, "It's a good thing we don't use them, otherwise, who knows how much people would look down on us behind our backs. The Marquis's manor hasn't even split the household yet; all food and expenses come from the communal funds. Even the Second Branch uses the communal funds, yet from her mouth, it sounds as if she's the one supporting the entire manor."

Lady Zhu pulled at Qin Lang, "Say a few less words."

"What did I say?" Qin Lang countered. "My father is stationed away from home and receives a salary; we aren't being supported by her."

Qin Tan did not stop him. Who did Qin He think she was looking down on? The Third Branch hadn't eaten her food or drunk her wine. If there were spiritual plants, she could give them; if not, she could just forget it. Instead, she chose to make up an excuse and speak such impolite words.

Marquis Qin Yan and the old Marquis exchanged a glance and sighed. The Third and Fourth Branches were clearly harboring resentment toward the Second Branch. Awakening spiritual roots was no small matter, yet Qin He had pulled such a stunt at a time like this.

Qin Qi hurried to the front courtyard, holding a wooden box in each hand. From a distance, he called out, "I've brought the spiritual plants."

Qin He refused, but Qin Qi could not ignore his siblings; he brought the spiritual plants he had saved up.

"We cannot afford them," Qin Tan said bluntly. He was a county magistrate stationed away from home, and he carried the providence of the Great Yan Kingdom, which gave him a natural aura of authority. He bowed to the old Marquis. "Father, we shall take our leave first."

Qin Di followed, "We are leaving as well."

The old Marquis nodded. As the members of the Third and Fourth Branches left together, Qin Qi felt uneasy. Marquis Qin Yan didn't know what to say. After Qin Qi inquired and learned that Qin Di's son and Qin Lang had all awakened spiritual roots, he finally showed a smile.

The members of the Third Branch followed the Fourth Branch to sit for a while before returning home to prepare items for their training.

Seeing that it was getting late, Qin Bi rose and returned to the Prince Rong Manor.

Once Qin Bi left, Lady He pulled a long face. "I don't even have spiritual roots. Giving one to Qin Lang for nothing—why didn't she give one to me? It must be because she's holding a grudge over the marriage with the Duke of Yan's manor."

Lady He wept, "I even fell out with my own family for her sake."

At Lady He's outburst, Qin Di's face filled with rage. "Then it's better if your family doesn't come around at all. Don't they see what your family has done? We had agreed to arrange a marriage with our family, and it was almost settled, but then He Yan went back on his word. That was one thing, but later, when Qin He was nearly killed by bad luck, your sister-in-law came pestering us to propose again. We accepted out of respect for family ties, but after all the incidents that followed, they never truly valued our family."

Feeling in the wrong, Lady He wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "I'm not saying they were right, but that was a Spirit Condensing Pill. To think she would give it to an outsider instead of me."

Qin Tang tried to persuade her, "Think of Qin Bi for a moment. When He Yan chose Qin He, she couldn't stay in the capital. It was Uncle Third's family who took Qin Bi away. That is a significant debt of gratitude."

Lady He understood, of course; she was simply heartbroken over that Spirit Condensing Pill. "I am her legal mother, and I even cut ties with my own family."

Qin Xun added from the side, "There were only three Spirit Condensing Pills; there weren't enough to go around."

"Wasn't it said that she refined them herself?" Lady He paused, then argued unreasonably, "Tell her to refine another one."

"Do you think they're jellybeans?!" Qin Di laughed in anger. "Refine another one?"

Lady He likely realized that continuing the tantrum was pointless, so she fell silent and stopped crying.

When Qin Bi returned home, Rong Jun had already finished his court duties and returned home with the child. It was a hot summer day, and the little one flopped weakly into Qin Bi's arms. Rong Jun stood beside them, using a fan to provide a breeze for the mother and child.

The maids and elderly servants stood nearby, but they couldn't find a single opening to take over the task of fanning.

A maid took a small step forward, but Rong Jun gave her a cold glance, causing her to retreat immediately. *Oh, dear, that's her job! Why is the Heir trying to steal her job!*

Rong Jun asked about the awakening of the spiritual roots. Qin Bi, holding the little one, went to dig in the dirt, scooping a few handfuls of soil from a small tea bowl into a porcelain flowerpot, intending to plant something once she had gathered enough.

Despite the Great Yan Emperor being somewhat simple-minded and uninterested in politics—tossing most memorials to Rong Jun and He Yan—the news of Qin Di's son and Qin Lang awakening spiritual roots quickly reached his ears.

Summoning Rong Jun, the Emperor said, "I heard that Qin Tang and the others are going to the Monster Realm small space for training. Let the Consort of the Heir go along as well, so they can look after one another."

Before Rong Jun could refuse, the Emperor handed him several teleportation arrays.

Fine, since it was the Emperor's wish, Rong Jun could not continue to make excuses.

Taking the teleportation arrays, Rong Jun went to the Marquis's manor to tell Qin Di, "Qin Bi is going as well."

Qin Di hesitated, "Is the child too young?"

Rong Jun knew what he was doing. "Three to five days will be fine."

Thus, Qin Di included Qin Bi. When Rong Jun went back to tell Qin Bi, she visited the Marquis's manor the next day. Upon hearing she had arrived, Qin Lang ran to the Fourth Branch's quarters, where Qin Di and Lady He were in the main room.

For this training trip to the Monster Realm small space, Qin Di and his two legitimate sons were all going; it had already been decided.

Qin Bi disagreed. "The monsters in the Monster Realm are ferocious. If you can't win the fights and all perish there, there will be no one left in the Fourth Branch."

Qin Di: "..."

Lady He: "..."

Qin Tang and Qin Xun: "..."

Qin Lang's eyes went wide. *What kind of talk is that?*

Qin Di was stunned for a moment. Forget just "training"—if he, his two sons, and Qin Bi all went to train, and they all perished in the Monster Realm, the Fourth Branch would be left completely vulnerable to anyone's whims.

Qin Bi's words were unpleasant, but truth be told, she had a point.